ERICSSON, the telecoms equipment maker, offered a voluntary redundancy package yesterday to about 1,000 of its employees in Sweden aged between 35 and 50.

The unusual move is designed to make way for younger workers.

The world’s biggest supplier of mobile phone networks said that the redundancies were necessary to ensure the competitiveness of the company in the next decade.

The company said that the purpose of the programme was to correct an imbalanced age structure. The group said that it wanted to employ more young people in order “not to miss a generation in ten years’ time”.

Employment lawyers believe that the move could leave the company open to potential compensation claims from people claiming the practice is biased against older workers.

Ericsson is planning to recruit 900 new employees up to the age of 30 in the next three years. The average age of Ericsson’s employees in Sweden is currently 41, compared with 39 for the company’s staff worldwide.

Ericsson’s age structure had become biased towards the 35-50 age group after a dramatic restructuring programme between 2000 and 2002.

Employees aged between 35 and 50 with a minimum of six years’ service will be eligible for a voluntary redundancy package comprising 12 to 18 months’ salary, a £3,700 payout and the chance to participate in a career change programme.

The company does not believe that it will be difficult to enlist volunteers because of the generous programme.

Ericsson employs 50,500 people in 140 countries, including 21,300 in Sweden.

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