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10/13/2009

Ludovic Nonclercq was on the verge of killing himself. "I saw my body dangling in the wires between the telephone poles, trapped, lifeless, right here in front of our house," he says. That vision of his own silhouette still haunts him today, 18 months after Nonclercq, a former department manager with a subsidiary of France Télécom, was suddenly demoted and then dismissed.

His wife saved his life by having him taken to the emergency room at a psychiatric clinic. "You were about to kill yourself," a specialist later told him. The episode led to a deep depression, a hospital stay, drug treatment, conversational therapy and, finally, Nonclercq's return, after repeated setbacks, to a normal life.

Nonclercq decided to go public with his experiences, although he refuses to be photographed. However, he says, his personal story is "not taboo, and not an exception. On the contrary."

Acts of Desperation

At least 24 employees of the former state-owned company France Télécom have committed suicide in the last 18 months alone. This cluster of acts of desperation at Europe's third-largest telecoms firm has caught the attention of both the public and researchers. The unions, for their part, are responding with strikes and rallies.

And because France could soon face new bankruptcies and mass layoffs, the government is also trying to get to the root of the problem. Officials at the Elysée Palace are concerned that a wave of suicides in a time of crisis could only intensify social confrontations inflamed by turbulent strikes, plant occupations and protests in the form of workers taking their bosses hostage.

Nonclercq's tale of woe began on a Friday in February of last year. Until then, the athletic and ambitious 42-year-old had always managed to achieve his goals. In 2007 he accepted a position with Sofrecom, a subsidiary of France Télécom. After managing a major project in Algeria, he was promoted to the company's commercial division and put in charge of a team of about 80 employees.

In February 2008, his supervisor called him into his office to tell him that he was being relieved of all responsibilities. Nonclercq was devastated. The announcement had come without any warning, and the conversation lasted only a few minutes. He was told to train his successor. The message was clear: "After six months, we expect you to be gone."

Candy for His Woes

Colleagues see Nonclercq as the victim of a failed internal restructuring program. Because there was no longer a management role for Nonclercq, he was simply dismissed. During his meeting with the head of human resources, he began weeping uncontrollably. Instead of calling the company doctor, the personnel director did something bizarre. "She handed me a piece of candy," Nonclercq recalls.

In the next meeting with management, he was ordered to stay at home. Later, when he attempted to enter his office, the company ordered him to leave the premises.

Nonclercq was overcome by dizziness and anxiety. One day, as he was walking to the doctor's office, he was suddenly no longer able to cross the street. A week after returning home, his hallucinations turned into suicide fantasies.

Nonclercq was lucky enough to have been saved by his wife. Many other France Télécom employees, however, hung themselves, jumped out of their office windows or leapt off bridges. In the most spectacular act of desperation to date, one employee plunged a knife into his stomach in the presence of one of his coworkers. He survived, but he was severely injured. But why is this happening at France Télécom of all places? And why are so many employees affected?

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• Part 1: Workers Describe Being Driven to Desperation
• Part 2: Increasingly Isolated Employees