The provider of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) guaranteed this Wednesday that the restructuring plan does not foresee layoffs, but rather the departure through retirement or pre-retirement, with around 400 workers being able to leave in 2025.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the inauguration of a new SCML facility in Lisbon, Paulo Sousa explained that the restructuring plan he is implementing at the institution does not aim to lay off workers, and only plans to leave those who are capable of reform or pre-reform.
Regarding the first group, the provider said that there are currently “more than 230 people over 65 years old” at SCML. On the other hand, he said that next week a pre-retirement policy available to all workers over 59 years old will be presented.
He highlighted that, alongside these departures, the institution has planned “a set of admissions because what Santa Casa needs is to change its age pyramid”.
He added that “only 1% of Santa Casa’s workforce is under 25 years old and the vast majority are in the age group over 55 years old”.
“The overall balance is around 200 fewer people next year, with departures of around 400 or so people and arrivals of around 200 or so people, which gives the final balance that is known”, said Paulo Sousa.
Another of the points covered in the restructuring plan concerns the internationalization of social games, with the provider explaining that the thematic plan on internationalization “is being completed”, but has not yet been approved by the Board.
“It will dictate the places where we will continue or we will not continue and we will abandon, it is hasty to make any type of judgment on the matter at this time”, he stated.
Paulo Sousa guaranteed that SCML’s restructuring plan will be publicly presented as soon as the “start-up phase, definition of teams and people responsible” is completed.
“As soon as this entire process is completed we will have all the conditions to present it publicly. It wouldn’t be worth presenting a plan if it wasn’t being implemented”, he explained.
The provider explained that the restructuring plan “went through several phases”, starting with “identifying the reality that existed in Santa Casa and the problems that existed and what the solutions could be to overcome them”.
“Next consisted of preparing the document itself and all its content and I would like to emphasize that this process was carried out very quickly”, he said.
This was followed by the phase of “presentation of the plan to statutory bodies” and submission to the supervisory authority for approval, which has already happened, and was then presented to all employees and also to Santa Casa’s staff structures.
Paulo Sousa also said that the institution is carrying out a series of initiatives — such as the equipment that was inaugurated today — that are part of the restructuring plan and that in the coming months there will be “several moments to demonstrate the reality of the plan and how does it come to fruition.”
