Banco Santander has opened formal negotiations with Spanish unions on a voluntary early-retirement framework, while Renault has presented a plan to shed 800 engineering posts in France through voluntary departures by end-2027. Both initiatives, announced within days of each other, illustrate how large European employers are using attrition and voluntary separation to reshape workforces without resorting to compulsory redundancies.

Santander’s talks, which unions hope to conclude by mid-July, aim to set common conditions for pre-retirements that have been occurring on an individual basis since 2025. Union representatives are demanding terms that exceed those of the bank’s last collective dismissal procedure in 2020, citing record profits. The Spanish newspaper Expansión reported that the scheme could eventually cover 2,000–3,000 employees, or 10–15% of the domestic workforce, though the bank insists no numerical target exists. Santander has already cut its Spanish branch network by 185 outlets year-on-year to 1,607, and group headcount fell by 11,000 to 185,000, a decline the CEO attributed to process simplification and automation.

Renault’s engineering reorganisation targets a 15–20% reduction in global engineering posts. In France, where half of the group’s 11,000 engineers are based, 800 voluntary departures will be offset by 150–200 new hires in software, artificial intelligence and electrification, and around 500 engineers will be redeployed internally. The French carmaker framed the move as a response to the rapid inroads of Chinese manufacturers, whose European market share reached 8.8% in May, up from under 3% in 2024. Renault stressed that France would remain its primary engineering centre.

The workforce adjustments coincide with a call from UBS economists for Switzerland to overhaul its pension system. In a study published on Wednesday, the bank proposed a package combining a new “fourth pillar” of private savings, reinforcement of the first-pillar state pension (AVS), and a gradual increase in the retirement age. The authors acknowledged the proposals were designed to be provocative and break a political deadlock, rather than reflect immediate government plans. The next milestones are the continuation of Santander’s union negotiations, with a possible framework agreement in July, and the progressive implementation of Renault’s plan through to end-2027.