French president says Peugeot layoffs are unacceptable

[PanzerJaeger]

At present Mr. Hollande represents a major stakeholder in PSA. Also, PSA has a history of being kept afloat by loans from the French government. So uhm, if the French government does not take kindly to the MBA idea of "when in trouble axe your staff, keep your bonus" then that is entirely reasonable. After all, under that plan not only will the French taxpayer be footing the bill to keep PSA alive in loans, but additionally will be made to foot the bill for the lay offs.

Well, I have an MBA so maybe I'm missing the brilliance of running factories at below break-even capacity levels and continuing to pay workers who are no longer needed. I was taught that such things are bad for business. The plan, as I understand it, is not about keeping bonuses. That's just hyperbole. Those bonuses make up a minute fraction of the company's quarterly losses, not to mention the annual figure, and I strongly doubt that anyone at PSA will be getting one this year anyway considering the company's recent performance. In reality, the plan is meant to keep the company viable in the new European market. I do not know how management will be able to do that without realigning production to meet changes in demand and technology.