Renault Tries To Ease Tensions

Renault SA reacts to a series of suicides at its Guyancourt Technocenter by agreeing to hire another 110 engineers and technicians as part of a series of measures to ease tensions and worry at the engineering complex.

Under Contract 2009, the 4-year improvement plan announced last year by CEO Carlos Ghosn, Renault is doubling the number of new cars it will launch in the coming years.

Ghosn, himself, may have found the pace of activity as CEO of both Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Renault too demanding, as he is dropping his job as chairman of Nissan management committee for the Americas.

Three suicides at the Technocenter and another at a technician's home have been highly publicized, and the last one led to an official investigation of working conditions. On March 1, Ghosn asked his managers to come up with a plan.

Besides the new hires, Renault executives say the Technocenter now will use more temporary employees, hold weekly meetings for work teams, better evaluate workloads and strengthen training for technical people.

People worry about the future, a Renault spokesman says, partly because the company is globalizing.