ERE

Freepik became Magnific to embrace AI. Now it proposes an ERE for almost a third of its employees in Spain

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Generative artificial intelligence is not only changing the tools we use to create images, videos or designs. It is also forcing many companies to ask themselves what they want to be in a market that moves at an unusual speed. freepik It is one of those cases that we have seen up close: it was born associated with graphic resources and for years it was a reference for those looking for images, vectors or templates. Your conversion into Magnific He wanted to tell precisely another story, that of a company that embraced AI to leave its previous stage behind. We are faced with news that fell this Wednesday afternoon: Magnific has raised a ERE in Spain. According to the information collected by Xataka, the procedure is still in the negotiation phase and involves around 30% of the 350 employees that the company has in the country. The nuance is important because Magnific is today a company with an international presence and some 450 employees globally: the ERE, according to what we know so far, affects its Spanish organization, not the entire global workforce. An ERE in full transformation towards AI It is worth stopping for a moment on the term. An employment regulation file is not equivalent, in itself, to dismissals already carried out, but rather to the legal procedure provided in Spain to propose a collective dismissal for economic, technical, organizational or productive reasons. The Workers’ Statute establishes that a period of consultations must be opened with the legal representation of the workers, a phase designed to negotiate the scope of the processits conditions and possible measures to reduce or mitigate its impact. In other words: what is now open is a procedure with prior negotiation before an eventual final decision. After hearing the news, we have contacted Magnific to find out its position. The company confirms the procedure and refers to the following statement: “We are in an internal process that affects part of the organization in Spain and is subject to a period of negotiation with the workers’ representation. As long as this process remains open, we are not going to make public evaluations out of respect for the people involved and the process itself.” To understand the context it is advisable to return to the starting point. Freepik became known as a platform for graphic assets: images, vectors, icons, templates and other materials that designers, content creators and marketing teams could incorporate into their projects. Magnific represents another ambition. The company now presents itself as a creative platform based on generative AIwith tools to generate, edit and transform visual content, and integrating models and capabilities that no longer fully fit with that initial idea of ​​a large repository of digital assets. Images | Magnificent In Xataka | Meta laid off 8,000 people and relocated 7,000. The result: the work environment is unbreathable

The Kings League was born in 2023 to put an end to traditional football. Three years later he declared an ERE

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Gerard Piqué built a soccer league for the Twitch generation, and three years later he has cut 50% of his team, closed his leagues in France and Germany with no return date at the moment, and paralyzed the Spanish competition for six months. and the internet numbers and engagement on the internet they were not badbut that wasn’t the problem. The problem is that real football has other places where it reigns without rival. What has happened? Kings League workers published yesterday a statement in which they dismantled the version that the company had leaked to the press two days before starting the ERE negotiations. The company had spoken of a 30% cut in the workforce and the real figure, according to those affected themselves, is 41 layoffs out of 83 workers: almost 50%. At the same time, the French and German leagues are paralyzed with no expected return date, and the Spanish league stops its activity for six months to, in the words of the organization, “prepare the product for the future.” Kings League CEO Djamel Agaoua, incorporated in 2025, admits in the corporate statement that “money has been burned.” The simultaneous expansion to Brazil, Germany, Italy and the MENA region, managed from the offices in Spain, was economically unaffordable. Story of an ambition. The Kings League started on January 1, 2023 with digital audience figures that scared LaLiga. The first day reached an average of 300,000 people watching the matches between the league channel and the streamers on Twitch. They achieved a peak of 800,000 viewers only on the league’s main channel, data similar to the average of all LaLiga matches the previous season. Comparisons were published everywhere: it seemed that Piqué had found the crack in traditional football. Streamer world. Streamers like Ibai Llanos, TheGrefg or Guarnizo were presidents of the teams, and that turned each game into an extension of the entertainment that their communities already consumed. The format had gamified rules, random penalties, special cards. It was soccer 7, but designed for those who have been playing ‘FIFA’ for ten years. The numbers trick. However, Twitch’s numbers don’t exactly measure sustained following. In 2024 the drop compared to the first figures was evident: the decrease was 54% compared to the first months of the competition, with an average of 192,000 spectators at the beginning of that season. That year’s final reached only 258,000 people on average with a peak of 425,000. In the first months of 2023, the same competition had accumulated more than two million viewers at its maximum peak, adding the official channel plus those of each streamer-president. By then, the Kings League had bought into its own narrative, and oversupply compounded the problem. The first split, the second split, the Queens League, the Prince Cup, the Kings Cup, the Queen’s Cup and the Kingdom Cup suffocated the product, and each new tournament diluted attention rather than focused it. One round. In February 2026, with audiences already declining, the Kings League closed an investment round for 53 million euros. The round was led by the American fund Alignment Growth, with the stated objective of expanding the competition globally, with the United States as a goal. With this operation, the Kings League accumulated more than 160 million dollars in total financing since its launch. Four months later the ERE has arrived, and the workers are pointing in that direction: the company has just raised 63 million euros and the savings that justifies dismissing almost half of the workforce is just over two million. A martyrdom The workers’ statement also describes the work culture that prevailed in the company: three years of seven-day weeks, averages of ten hours a day, and overtime systematically above the legal limit of 80 hours per year established by the Workers’ Statute, in most cases without financial compensation or rest. On June 8, the CEO congratulated the entire team on the success of the Queens League final and two days later, the ERE was in the media. Had he left? The question, then, is whether the Kings League has ever had the possibility of competing with football. We have a precedent in American football: in 2001, Vince McMahon and NBC they launched the XFL with the aim of becoming the entertaining alternative to the NFL, with fewer penalties and a format with elements of reality show. The first broadcast achieved 54 million viewers, but by the following week the audience had fallen by 50%, with a continuous decline until the closure after a single season. Apparently, viewers were not interested in a hybrid between sport and wrestling spectacle. Unbeatable football. Spanish football has fans in third regional teams that fill stands with 800 people every weekend. This link does not arise from the product being entertaining, but rather from the fact that it is part of the local identity and, in many cases, family or territorial traditions. A child who grows up watching Rayo Vallecano or Villarreal with his father does not give the same identification value to a streamer. Even though he has a million followers. Football accumulates emotional capital for decades and the Kings League had to build it from scratch. And now? There are some pending issues: the Kings World Cup Clubs in Italy will be held in July 2026, and we will try to move forward with those who are still in the company. Piqué, in turn, publicly tested after the Queens League final the possibility of compressing the entire competition into a format of a few days. That is, a possible solution is to lower the ambition. Maybe it would have been a good exit idea. In Xataka | The Kings League has debuted on traditional television. It has had less audience than a La 2 documentary

The ERE of 750 workers confirms the profitability crisis of delivery in Spain

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Glovo has opened the consultation period for an Employment Regulation File that will affect a maximum of 750 delivery workers in more than 60 locations throughout Spain: The official reason is that the distribution model with employees is not profitable in a large part of the territory. However, unions like CCOO had months denouncing that the company was already carrying out a “covert ERE” through a continuous trickle of disciplinary dismissals under questionable justifications. Why is it important. This decision comes just eight months after Glovo will complete its adaptation to the Rider Lawregularizing the delivery drivers who until then worked as self-employed. This adjustment shows the platform’s difficulties in sustaining a profitable logistics model once forced to abandon the self-employed scheme and assume the labor costs of the Workers’ Statute. The background. Glovo was the last major platform to comply with the Rider Law, which was approved in 2021, but its effective application was in fits and starts, between fines and institutional pressure. In July 2025, The company regularized its delivery drivers (more than 13,000 throughout Spain) in the face of the imminent threat of criminal proceedings, which opened the door to prison sentences for its leadership for widespread fraud. What Glovo had to give up then is cutting now. Between the lines. The company does not directly blame the Rider Law. It points out that its direct logistics management model, the so-called Gen2, “has proven to be inefficient” in small and medium-sized municipalities, and that it is necessary to move to the Gen1 model, in which Glovo does not assume the delivery operation. Translated: where the volume of orders is not sufficient to cover the costs of having permanent employees, the platform transitions to a model of marketplace (Gen1). That is, Glovo continues to operate the application and collect commissions, but the logistics of delivery are now assumed by the restaurants themselves or subcontracted companies. In figures: 750 delivery workers affected by the ERE. More than 60 locations where service will be reduced or eliminated. And more than 800 cities where Glovo operations continue normally. The big question. Now the underlying debate is not whether Glovo complies with the law or not (now, without a doubt, it complies with it), but whether the delivery whose model he proposes can be sustainable with a workforce of employees in markets where orders do not have the volume that exists in large cities. In addition, COVID triggered home delivery consumption to levels that have since normalized, and platforms have been searching for years for the balance point that allows them to make money without resorting to questionable working conditions. In many corners of Spain, that point has not yet appeared. Yes, but. Yolanda Díaz has responded to the announcement by rejecting any “blackmail” and promising that the Labor Inspection will ensure compliance with the law. You are right that the law must be followed. But the ERE that Glovo has announced does not breach it: reducing activity where there is no business is a legitimate decision. The underlying problem lies in the structural change of the sector: the delivery was born and based its profitability on a model of self-employed workers, a formula that Glovo defended to the end, arguing for the flexibility of the service. Now, the real challenge is to demonstrate whether the business remains economically viable when platforms must assume the structural costs of a salaried workforce, as required by current legislation. Featured image | Nursultan Abakirov In Xataka | The death of cooking at home: inviting to “dinner” is increasingly becoming inviting to order by Glovo

Telefónica sought to dismiss 4,525 employees with its ERE. Now you have a problem called 5,124 volunteers

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Telefónica has closed the first phase of your ERE in Spain with more employees wanting to leave the company than places available in the ERE. 5,124 workers from the different subsidiaries of the operator presented themselves as candidates to benefit from the ERE. Of these volunteers to leave the company, 352 candidates have been left out because the maximum number of dismissals agreed with the unions has been exceeded. This excess of volunteers worries union representatives. Volunteers to be fired. At the end of December, the company and unions signed the conditions for the Employment Regulation File that will affect seven subsidiaries of the Telefónica group: Telefónica de España, Telefónica Móviles, Telefónica Soluciones, Telefónica Global Solutions, Telefónica Innovación Digital, Telefónica SA and Movistar+. There A minimum of 4,525 departures was set for the entire group, reducing the number of layoffs by 25.6% from the 6,088 that the company planned at the beginning. This implies a reduction of 26.2% of the 17,248 employees of those seven companies. The bulk of the layoffs he was going to concentrate on the matrix and its two main subsidiaries. That is, Telefónica España, Telefónica Móviles and Telefónica Soluciones for which a minimum of 3,765 departures and a maximum of 5,040 were marked. According to pointed Digital EconomyIn these three subsidiaries, 3,995 volunteers have been registered in Telefónica de España, 990 in Móviles and 179 in Solutions, adding up to a total of 5,124 requests to join the ERE. 84 more than the maximum limit provided for them. How many applications are accepted. Of the requests presented for these three subsidiaries, Telefónica has accepted a total of 4,772 exits, which are distributed as follows: 3,649 exits in Telefónica de España, 960 in Mobile and 163 in Solutions, reaching 100% of the objective. That leaves 352 rejected, distributed as follows: 306 in Telefónica de España, 30 in Mobile and 16 in Solutions. It is not the first time that there are more applications for membership than departure places. A similar phenomenon also occurred in the company’s previous ERE. In fact, the unions are asking that priority be given to those employees who were rejected in the previous ERE of 2024reinforcing the voluntary nature of the measure and avoiding forced dismissals. Unions are concerned about the excess. In a statementCCOO insists that the ERE is voluntary and agreed upon, but the excess of applications submitted to the company’s headquarters has them worried. The union insists on analyzing the background that has led so many employees to express their desire to leave the company. “The large number of requests also shows discontent and the need to leave Telefónica, a worrying issue because it indicates a clear dissatisfaction of the staff in the exercise of their professional development,” the union interpreted. What remains to be decided. With the three majority subsidiaries of the Related Companies Agreement already almost closed, it is time to analyze the applications from Telefónica Global Solutions, Telefónica SA, Telefónica Innovación Digital and Movistar+. For these three subsidiaries Global Solutions, Telefónica SA and Telefónica Innovación Digital, 416 volunteers have presented themselves for the 585 planned departures (109 in Global Solutions, 182 in Innovación Digital and 294 in Telefónica SA). This accession leaves these subsidiaries with coverage of 71.11% of the total, forcing the company to look for new candidates and opt for forced dismissals. Something that unions want to avoid at all costs. In other words, while in the group’s headquarters some employees want to leave and cannot, in the smaller subsidiaries they will have to fire employees who want to stay. No news from Movistar+. The Movistar+ TV platform It is the big unknown at the moment, since the numbers of applications to benefit from the ERE, which will affect 175 employees of this division, which represents 20% of its workforce, have not yet been made public. In Xataka | Severance compensation: when there is the right to collect it according to the type of dismissal and how it is calculated Image | Telephone

The fashion among Spanish operators is the ERE. Meanwhile, Digi is hiring more than anyone else

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DIGI’s ambition has not been enough to become one of the three largest operators in the country. It also wants to be one of the main job refuges in the national telecom sector. In a context of uncertainty and restructuring, the Romanian operator is close to tripling its workforce while the rest adjust their workforce. Closing 2025. Digi closed last year with 10,200 direct employees in Spain. Data that is better understood if we put it in context. Against the current. While the telecommunications industry shrinks its workforce, destroying more than 14,000 jobs together, Digi does just the opposite: grow in customers and employment. One of the pillars that cements this stage of growth for the company is its first national agreement, signed last November. In it, the conditions of its employees are homogenized and progressive salary increases linked to performance are proposed. what’s happening. Digi’s strategy collides head-on with a classic among large telecos: outsourcing. The Romanian operator has opted for an internalization strategy: While the three large operators in the country have been focused for years on increasing income per customer, Digi is doing just the opposite: taking away customer volume, sacrificing profitability per user. No changes in the short term. Digi’s strategy seems clear: volume over margin and commitment to not outsourcing its services. The plan to become the third operator nationwide continues from strength to strength: In 2022 it managed to take over 60% of portability in Spain. It is currently the fourth national operator, behind Vodafone. While the rest raises prices, Digi maintains them or adjusts them even more. It is on track to become the third largest operator in fiber lines if it maintains its growth in 2026. The big question. Whether or not Telefónica will end up taking over Digi is the big question. The Spanish giant neither confirms nor rules out future purchases and mergers in its growth plan until 2030. For the moment, Digi is an ally: the Romanian operator uses Movistar coverage and infrastructure and will continue to do so for at least 16 years. Image | Digi In Xataka | All teleoperators plan to raise prices in Spain from 2026. All? No: DIGI still resists

Telefónica promised great savings by 2030. Its ERE has been negotiated at 2,500 million euros and 4,525 layoffs

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Telefónica and the majority unions UGT, CCOO and Fetico-Sumados have signed the employment regulation file (ERE) that will affect the seven subsidiaries of the group. The minimum volume of departures is set at 4,525 employees, 14 less than initially planned after a last-minute reduction in the divisions of Telefónica Global Solutions, Telefónica Innovación Digital and Telefónica SA As highlighted by CCOO statementthe agreement is reached after almost a month of marathon negotiations, which began in November when the management communicated its intention to carry out the ERE for objective reasons that would affect 6,088 employees. Fewer layoffs than estimated He agreement reached establishes the minimum departure of some 4,525 employees, which represents a reduction of 25.6% compared to the 6,088 dismissals proposed at the beginning of the negotiations. However, this limit only responds at a minimum estimatethe company estimates that finally about 5,500 employees will take voluntary leave. In any case, it is a lower figure than that announced by the operator before the negotiations. The bulk of the adjustment corresponds to the companies covered by the Related Companies Agreement (CEV), with 3,765 minimum departures distributed as follows: 2,925 in Telefónica de España (almost 33% of a workforce of 8,892 people), 720 in Telefónica Móviles (20% of a total of 3,587 employees) and 120 in Telefónica Soluciones (11% of 1,118 workers). In the case of these companies covered by the Related Companies Agreement, the final number of dismissals is not fixed, but depends on the volume of voluntary adhesions, with a range that goes from 3,765 to 5,040 departures. The group’s global units total 585 layoffs. 109 layoffs in Telefónica Global Solutions (17% of the 638 employees), 182 in Digital Innovation (18.3% of 993 employees) and 294 in the TSA parent company (25.3% of 1,160 employees). Added to these figures are 175 departures from Movistar+, which represent 20.3% of its workforce of 860 people, a significant reduction compared to the 297 departures initially planned. Economic conditions and membership requirements Compensation contemplates different sections depending on the year of birth of the workers. Those born between 1969 and 1971 will receive 68% of the regulatory salary until the age of 63 and 38% thereafter, although in Movistar+ those born in 1971 are excluded. For the oldest For those born between 1965 and 1968, the percentages are 62% up to age 63 and 34% thereafter, while those born in 1964 or before will receive 52% of the salary up to age 63 and 35% thereafter. To voluntarily join with these conditions, 15 years of seniority in related subsidiaries and 13 years of seniority in global subsidiaries are required. In addition, the latter include voluntary bonuses of between 5,000 and 18,000 euros depending on seniority, doubling the amounts initially proposed. The departure process will be carried out in a staggered manner depending on the subsidiary. For related subsidiaries, the voluntary departure request period will begin on December 29 and end on January 26, while for global subsidiaries, it will extend from December 29 to January 29. In Movistar+, the voluntary deadline is postponed until January 7 and will be accepted until February 6. Spend to save Telefónica calculates that this ERE will have a cost of about 2,500 million euros before taxes. For Telefónica España and Movistar Plus+ the provision will be around 2.3 billion euros, while for the corporate units it will be approximately 200 million euros respectively. These staff cuts are part of the new Transform & Grow strategic plan of Telefónica for the period 2026-2030, which seeks to save costs up to 3,000 million euros annually in 2030. However, the company estimates annual savings close to 600 million euros from 2028, with a positive impact on cash generation as early as 2026. Simultaneously with the ERE, Telefónica has reached an agreement with the union centers to extend the collective agreements of the seven subsidiaries until 2030. The most significant advance is the commitment to increase salaries 1.5% each year while the agreement is in force, affecting both the related subsidiaries and the global units of Telefónica. Employees of the linked subsidiaries will receive an additional payment of 300 euros in October, of which 150 euros will be consolidated annually in the salary tables. The social benefits include the extension of the teleworking package up to 12 days, the extension of the 36 hour work week to global units, the improvement of bank guarantees for home purchases from 75,000 to 100,000 euros, aid of 3,000 euros for rent and the declaration of December 24 and 31 as non-working days. In Xataka | The best strategies to ask for a salary increase, the negotiation most similar to a “battle” at work Image | Telephone

Telefónica is preparing a tough ERE, but for many veterans it will be like a prize

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Telefónica has informed the unions of an ERE that would affect 6,088 employees, 24% of its workforce in Spain. The initial proposal includes seven companies and will presumably replicate the pattern of the last adjustment: in the 2024 ERE there were more applications to take advantage of the available spaces. More than 200 people were left outside. Or rather: inside. In detail. The most affected divisions: Telefónica de España: 3,649 departures, 41% of the workforce. Mobile phones: 1,124 (31.3%) Solutions: 267 (23.9%). Movistar+: 279 employees, almost a third. The parent company (SA), Global Solutions and Digital Innovation: between 140 and 378 exits (from 22% to 32%). The backdrop. The adjustment is framed in the Marc Murtra’s strategic plan to save 3,000 million euros until 2030. The objective: to reduce overhead costs that grow faster than income in a fragmented Europe with almost 40 competing operators. The Ministry of Labor described as “indecent” that a company with the State as a shareholder (10% via SEPI) executes an ERE while in profits. But the Government itself endorsed this strategic plan, on the condition that there was a union agreement. Minister Óscar López made it clear: “It always has to be with the agreement of the unions.” Between the lines. Incentives explain the avalanches of applications: In the ERE of 2024, compensation was around 67% of the salary until age 63, with paid contributions, health insurance and a supplement of 38% until age 65. The average cost per departure was 380,000 euros. Less generous than in previous EREs (in 2021 it was 463,500 euros), but enough to pack your bags. The annual savings for the company, 285 million euros. For someone who turns 56-57 and has been in the house for decades, it is a difficult deal to refuse. Those affected earn until they retire without having to work. This ERE targets those born in 1969, 1970 and 1971, with departures staggered between 2026 and 2028. Yes, but. As in The Leftoversa good part of the story is that of those who remain. The veterans come out with the mattress on. Those who remain – especially the younger ones – will presumably inherit more burden, more uncertainty and a less clear professional future. The question that no one has answered yet: which Telefónica will be left after losing weight at the top? The unions already know this. UGT, CCOO and Fetico-Sumados They demand that departures be voluntary (as in 2024), but they also want to extend the agreement until 2030, tie in improvements in teleworking, working hours and salaries, and guarantee stability for the next five years. Without improvements for those who follow, there will be no agreement. The great unknown. Not all branches have the age pyramids to fill positions only with volunteers. The three main ones of the Related Companies Agreement (Spain, Mobile, Solutions) repeat the profile: aging staff, high seniority, juicy incentives. The unions predict that the excess of requests will be repeated. But at Telefónica SA (the corporate center), Global Solutions or Digital Innovation, the staff is younger. There the risk of forced dismissals is greater. CCOO has already warned that in these subsidiaries “the population pyramids are different.” In perspective. The “bargain” for those over 55 coexists with the concern of those who cannot benefit. A Telefónica that reduces costs, yes, but also a generational gap that widens with each ERE. And an unresolved question: how to prevent the next political or shareholder change from activating the guillotine again? The unions want shields until 2030. The company, room for maneuver. In Xataka | The great dilemma of Spanish telecos: either they become giants or China swallows them Featured image | Telephone

proposes an ERE for 1,200 employees in Madrid and Barcelona

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The round of more than 30,000 layoffs that Amazon announced at the beginning of the week seemed something far away. Finally, the figure was lowered to 14,000 layoffswhich is still dramatic. However, two companies linked to Amazon in Spain have initiated employment regulation files (ERE) for their workers in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​which indicates that Spain is also among Amazon’s workforce reduction plans. 1,200 jobs between Madrid and Barcelona Just a few days ago, Amazon announced a round of staff layoffs that would affect some 14,000 employees around the world. According what was published by EFE and Europa Press, the company’s corporate employees in Spain will be part of that adjustment. As confirmed by Amazon at the request of Xataka, two employment regulation files have been opened in the companies Amazon Digital Spain, whose offices are located in Madrid, and Amazon Spain Services, located in Barcelona. The combination of both processes will affect up to 1,200 employees of these corporate offices. Sources from EFE point out that the layoffs would be limited only to the staff of those offices, but not to the operations and logistics part that Amazon has spread throughout the national territory. Amazon’s global workforce is estimated at around 1.5 million employees, of which around 350,000 hold corporate positions. According to data from 2025 provided by Amazonits staff in Spain would be about 28,000 employees distributed in 19 provinces. Amazon indicated in its official statement on the reduction of 14,000 jobs globally, that those affected would be offered a period of 90 days to look for a new position within the company, although it was clarified that this period could vary depending on the legislation in force in each country, so we do not know if those affected by this ERE will be able to relocate to other positions within the company. It’s not for money, it’s for agility Amazon’s decision in Spain is known just after publishing one rrising economic resultsin a context in which the company continues to break turnover and profit records. The reaction from the Government has not been long in coming from the Minister of Labor, who from her profile on BlueSky has attacked Amazon and its founder: “A company that has million-dollar profits and that leaves its workers stranded is a model of shame. The “Amazon miracle” is this: Jeff Bezos at the service of Trump, not paying taxes, destroying small businesses and mistreating its workers,” wrote Yolanda Diaz. Unlike what usually happens, the constant layoffs that are taking place in large technology companies (and in other that they are not) They are not explained in a context of financial crisis of those companies (which, in fact, set records in your quotes) but in a scenario of optimizing their templates to be more agile in the race for AI. This is how Andy Jassy, ​​CEO of Amazon, explained it in recent statements reported by CNBC: “It’s actually a question of culture. If you grow as fast as we did for several years, you know, the size of the companies, the number of people, the number of locations, the types of businesses you’re in, you end up with many more people than before, and you end up with many more layers.” Eliminating those layers of middle positions reduces your internal bureaucracy and speeds up decisions. In Xataka | Big Tech doesn’t stop firing its engineers. At the same time, they have stepped on the accelerator in hiring Image | amazon

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