28/09/2007
In recent months, five employees of the PSA Peugeot Citroën factory in Mulhouse, East of France, committed suicide. These incidents coincided with the implementation of a program in 2006 aimed at improving the productivity and at modifying  the work organization so as to lower production costs.

The daily newspaper Libération reported that the trade union delegation of the factory decided to investigate the existing working conditions by analyzing the data from questionnaires filled in by employees. The 800 replies out of 4000 questionnaires handed out indicated that almost two thirds of employees (63%) believed they were working under more and more strenuous conditions. Among people whose work has undergone restructuring,  this percentage is even higher and reaches 68%.

A significant part of employees ranging between 79% among workers and 95% among management have also shown high stress levels. A third of these employees have problems sleeping and 70% are irritable due to work.

Suicides linked to stress factors are prominent in the car industry. The other well-known French car manufacturer, Renault, has also recorded an increase in suicides linked to stressful working conditions.

In the past year, four employees working at the Renault technical center in Guyancourt have committed suicide.