French pools operator Pari Mutuel Urbain has signed a workforce restructuring plan with three of four trade unions. The agreement eliminates 128 positions and creates 81 new roles, a net loss of 47 jobs. The only union that refused to sign is the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT).
The employment protection plan was launched in April by new CEO Cyrille Giraudat as part of a sales division overhaul. Cuts will affect roughly 350 staff in regional units, while PMU's Paris headquarters remains untouched. CFDT criticised that decision, arguing field teams handle the network of 14,000 bar tabac partners through which PMU reaches younger customers.
The restructuring follows a revenue decline: PMU's handle fell 2% to €6.6bn in 2024, and payments to racing stakeholders dropped from €835m in 2024 to €802m in 2025. PMU remains Europe's largest pools operator but struggles with an ageing customer base — previous management failed to attract younger punters to horseracing.
Giraudat, who replaced Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet as CEO in January, is driving the Pacte PMU 2030 strategy. Priorities include refreshing the racing product line and launching PMU Play this year, a sports betting app built on Kambi's platform. The company is in talks with Playtech over a potential PAM deal. The new app aims for cross-sell: single sign-on gives access to racing, sports betting and poker.
The plan goes before PMU's social and economic committee on 23 September and requires approval from France's labour inspectorate.
