I do not mean to infer anything at this point; I am only asking questions. But Renault has set some bold profit goals while union officials have already questioned the link between the suicide of three company employees at Renault's R&D site and work pressures.
Yesterday, I came across Renault's declaration on its Website under the heading of "Renault Commitment 2006." There, Renault said it is working towards offering a dividend payment of €4.50 per share for 2009, versus €3.10 per for 2006. This is a lofty goal, even by U.S. standards. Renault has also announced an unprecedented number of car launches during the next couple of years, which in turn, has undoubtedly tightened the screws on its engineering staff to deliver more with fewer resources than before.
I really don't think Renault culture is any worse than its U.S. or other European counterparts. Could it be that the suicide rate among R&D staff at multinational companies during the past three years--as the automotive industry continues to largely stagnate--is higher than normal? I wonder where I could track down such stats.
