Concentrix fires employees with a sense of humour. Bruce Toussaint is a journalist on TF1. True or false?

The world's number 2 call centre, Concentrix, is reported to have dismissed an employee in Compiègne who liked Homer Simpson and wanted to receive his pay on the usual date of the month. The trade union, CGT, gave considerable coverage to this dismissal, which was considered unfair, and the ‘scoop’ was subsequently picked up by TF1, Le Parisien, France 3 Régions and Oise Hebdo. The truth and falsehood, in a sector - the call centre industry - where approximations reign supreme. And where the share prices of the companies concerned can be impacted by this type of incident. Is Bruce Toussaint, for example, who relayed and commented on the case, a journalist, a soothsayer, who already seems to know what the outcome of this case at the Industrial Tribunal will be?

The questions raised by Loan's GIF and his dismissal at the former Webhelp, the world's number 2 BPO company, and the media coverage of this divorce without mutual consent.

Was Loan Léton dismissed from Concentrix, the former Webhelp, which employs 1,200 people in Compiègne, because of the Homer Simpson GIF he posted? Is this legal? Is Concentrix a great place to work? Who, among the many media outlets that have reported this separation between an employee and his employer, has taken the trouble to check the facts with Concentrix? Would it have been easy for them to contact Concentrix, for example, by telephone?

1. Did no media outlet or journalist contact Concentrix or attempt to do so? The facts, as reported, for example, by TF1 Info, accompanied by the sarcasm of Bruce Toussaint: ‘Léon Léton, 23, was dismissed from his company near Compiègne for serious misconduct. His management accused him of sending a GIF of Homer Simpson. His colleagues rallied to challenge his dismissal. His joke cost him his job’ In Le Parisien, the incident is described as follows (..) : The company terminated his contract on 9 October, after he sent a GIF, an animated image, depicting the cartoon character Homer Simpson on Teams. I just wanted to lighten the mood,’ he says, explaining that the exchange between employees and HR was becoming heated on the professional messaging system, following the announcement of a salary payment. My dismissal for serious misconduct is solely linked to the GIF,’ says Loan Léton (published on 21 October).

On 19 October, on the website of the regional newspaper Oise Hebdo, illustrated by numerous photos of the employee, his parents and other CGT members, the following headline appeared: Webhelp Compiègne employee sacked for comparing management to Homer Simpson.

The fact-checking work carried out by the media that relayed the story. More than fifteen major newspapers, radio stations - including RTL - and TV news channels picked up the story. Only three questioned the account given by the employee and the CGT: Capital, which ran the headline: Un salarié a-t-il été licencié à cause d'un GIF d'Homer Simpson? (...) Management denies it.

As well as: Actu.fr ( Was an employee really made redundant because of a Homer Simpson GIF in the Oise department?) Le Parisien reports that it has tried to contact the company's management.

2. Concentrix is rather difficult to reach and has chosen not to comment. What Concentrix says, what the world No. 2 has done to deny it. Interview with Ludovic Lempire, Managing Director of Concentrix's French market*, on Friday 25 October, and the group's director of communications for France, Maylis Leroux (*who bought Webhelp last year).

En-Contact: Has Loan Léton been made redundant for the reasons he mentions, which have been widely reported?
Ludovic Lempire: It's a matter between an employer and an employee, which prevents me from speaking out. I can't comment on it without revealing information that must remain confidential. We did indeed dismiss Mr Léton for misconduct, a decision that was served on him on 9 October 2024.

EC: There is talk of late payment of salaries, for the 2nd time, which triggered his reaction?
LL: We pay salaries on the 25th of each month, in particular so that any bonuses, which may be added to the basic salary, can be calculated and added, reflecting their performance. We gave our employees advance notice and even made arrangements, such as offering not to travel to avoid expenses, and paid them one or two days late. It's worth remembering that, although it's a shame, we pay our employees before the end of each month, for the current month.

EC: This dismissal has been widely reported, including on TF1 Info, hosted by Bruce Toussaint, who I believe is a journalist, and others, which may cause you to lose some of your image and reputation. Have journalists called you to verify the CGT's information, or to get your point of view?
LL: No, you're the first to do so (nb: Le Parisien reports that it tried to contact Concentrix management).

EC: Ah. Just a point of clarification: I tried to contact the Concentrix centre in Compiègne on the number that appears on the internet, 03 60 79 84 08. Then I called Concentrix headquarters in Paris on 01 44 40 33 40. In both cases, the request and the call ring in vain, even though I've tried several times. At the French head office, you even get a voicemail with a message in English. This is rather astonishing for the world's number 2 in customer services, which are often provided by telephone. And this in a sector that says it is recruiting, for example.
ML: Ah, you've taught me that, it's true that it's not very normal. Let's think about it together. (We call back together on 01 44 40 33 40. Same result)
LL: Yes, well, nobody contacts us by phone any more, anyway.

MJ: OK, but suppose an employee tries to contact Concentrix to find out, for example, if you're recruiting, to find out if they can or should come and submit a CV, so that their application can be processed quickly. This is an option that you offer in Morocco, in Rabat, for example, and which impressed me during my report.
LL: We process applications via the Internet. You have to apply online or on job boards.

EC: The call centre and customer relations sector is full of stereotypes, and we hear a lot of things about the impact of AI, which we've seen are often false, like the Klarna affair. Don't you think it's important to reply to people who call you for various reasons, to try and clarify a context with a media outlet, to ask TF1 for a right of reply, for example?
LL: No. We chose not to comment. Manuel, you do the questions and answers...

EC: By dint of never trying to set the record straight about this industry, which is very poorly known and much maligned, even though it doesn't always deserve to be, and has had plenty of opportunity to complain about it, aren't you afraid of persistent perverse effects? The SP2C, for example, the Syndicat des grands Prestataires de Centres de Contacts, which we see hosting programmes on BFM, could perhaps have reacted to this issue, for example. The union produces studies on the importance of HR in the customer experience... Who is Concentrix's HR Director in France?
LL: Franck Devos, but he's not the one who speaks out in these cases. We prefer to move on to other, more important things. What's important is our customers. And we're winning them. By the way, Manuel, what interests you so much in this story, and why are you devoting so much time to it?

EC: This banal HR story has been taken up again, in a sector which is the one we cover and concerns a global player, which works to take into account the well-being of its employees, from what I've often seen. So there you have it. Has Concentrix published a press release to share its view of the facts, which could be found on the company's website?
ML: No, but it will be. At least, we'll send it to you, but we won't post it on our corporate website for everyone.
EC: OK, Maylis, Ludovic, thank you for taking the time.

3. This is what the CGT is saying and spreading, through its representative Belinda Hafid. Contacted by us on 25 October, Belinda Hafid was terse.

EC: Hello, I'm the editor of En-Contact. I'm calling you about a case of redundancy at Compiègne and I'd like to have your point of view.
Belinda Hafid: So you can twist my words to suit Concentrix? I won't talk to you (she hangs up).

NB: the last time we spoke to Belinda was a few years ago, when she alerted the local press to an HR issue. At the time we waited in vain for the evidence to back up what she was saying. We wrote at the time that she might play a significant role in Voyage au bout de l'enfer, season 2, in the Oise region. A bit like Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk. An extra or a silhouette in a big production, that's pretty good pay. But I digress, let's get back to the facts.

4. ‘Concentrix, they call people, but they can't be reached’. Oise Hebdo, the local paper that's holding out

We contacted Guillaume Grasset, the journalist at Oise Hebdo who wrote the article on Concentrix mentioned at the top of the article.

EC: Did you take the time to contact Concentrix before writing and publishing your article?
Guillaume Grasset: No, why are you asking me this question?

EC: Because the information has been repeated everywhere. I'm trying to understand whether the journalists who wrote the articles contacted Concentrix or at least tried to question them.
GG: You're right, I should have done so, but unfortunately I didn't. Why? Why, do you have any information, any new information?

EC: No. It's an industry that employs a lot of people, and one that I find, from knowing it well, that it's not well known and that there are certainly employers who are sometimes less socially responsible, but there are also entrepreneurs who have innovated socially... I'm trying to understand what has fascinated the media who have reported this redundancy, apparently without having questioned the parties involved very much.
GG: I don't think I contacted them, because the last time I did, I couldn't get through to anyone or get a reply. (He adds, with a smile in his voice): Concentrix, they call people, but they can't be called or reached.

En-Contact has tried three times this week to contact the management of Concentrix, in Compiègne, and its director, Stéphanie Grangeon. Guillaume Grasset isn't lying: they never answer, at least at the number listed in the Yellow Pages and Google. That must be because you have to send an e-mail, like everywhere else these days. The telephone is a thing of the past, which would explain why the share prices of the big BPO companies, spun off from answering services or telesales, are so depressed.

The shares of Concentrix and Teleperformance, respectively number 2 and number 1 in the world, have fallen by 60 to 80% over the past year. Both companies employ more than 300,000 people worldwide. Here is the official response we received from the management of Concentrix France, which cannot be considered an official press release.

Customer service.
Benoit Duteurtre, writer and occasional radio host, died this summer on 16 July 2024. In 2003, he wrote and published Service Clientèle, a short, funny story about a man who decides to buy a mobile phone. And to subscribe to the service. And who one day wants to contact the operator's customer relations manager. The same person who signed the personalised letter welcoming the new customer. Unable to reach her, the hero goes to the company's head office... Little has been said about the death of Benoit Duteurtre, or that of Christian Bobin. Not on TF1, at any rate, with a knowing smile.

Manuel Jacquinet

Front page illustration: Loan Léton and his family, who came to support him during a demonstration, photo supplied by the CGT to Oise Hebdo. Editing: En-Contact.