French tire maker Michelin to slash 2,300 posts by 2024

French tire manufacturer Michelin on Wednesday announced it would reduce its workforce by 2,300 over the next three years as part of a simplification and competitiveness plan aimed at improving the group's performance and modernizing its sites in France.

In a press release, the company said the decision would affect 1,100 posts in offices and 1,200 jobs in plants. Nearly 60 percent of the job reductions would be based on voluntary early retirement schemes.

The jobs slash would help the group to improve its competitiveness by up to 5 percent a year in the corporate and administrative activities, and by up to 5 percent a year in the manufacturing operations, it added.

"The plan is part of a broad co-construction and social dialogue approach and will rely on negotiating a three-year framework agreement that will not entail any layoffs. The plan does not rely on plant closures," it said.

Michelin employs 127,000 workers worldwide. In 2019, its sales totaled 24.1 billion euros (29.74 billion U.S. dollars) and the net income was at 1.7 billion euros.