Gemalto CEO sticks to plan to cut 288 jobs in France

"This plan is maintained. It reflects the need to trim and optimise staff that we dedicate to the SIM card business," Philippe Vallee told BFM business radio.

He added that the company would aim to redeploy staff internally, whenever possible.

Thales on Sunday agreed to buy Gemalto for 4.8 billion euros ($5.6 billion), trumping an earlier bid by fellow French firm Atos to expand in the fast-growing digital security market.

Union officials at Gemalto had cautioned that the announcement did not refer to the chip card business.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Stephen Coates)