Leonardo agrees early retirement, new hirings deal with Italian unions

ROME (Reuters) – Defence and aerospace group Leonardo said on Wednesday it had struck a deal with Italian trade unions for the early retirement of 400 of its staff during 2023-2024, to be offset by around 600 new hirings over the same period.

The early retirement option will be made available, on a voluntary basis, to employees who qualify for retirement by no later than Nov. 30, 2028, the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, hirings “will bring new talents aboard the Leonardo community to help face the challenges of digitisation and development of distinctive technologies and production processes,” Antonio Liotti, Leonardo’s Chief People & Organisation Officer, said.

At the end of last year, Leonardo had around 31,600 employees in Italy, accounting for just under two-thirds of its global workforce, according to company data.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by David Evans)