Bell Canada is offering severance packages to 1,200 unionized employees across the country as the telcom giant deals with “unprecedented challenges” in its industry, company officials say.
These industry-wide challenges combined with initiatives, such as moving customers to newer fibre networks, have resulted in lighter workloads that require fewer personnel, Bell spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis said via email.
As a result, the company is rolling out an “enhanced voluntary separation program” for eligible staff, she said.
“A voluntary program will be less disruptive for our employees, customers and company,” Michelis said. “Volunteering for an enhanced package will provide eligible unionized employees an option to retire or pursue new career opportunities.”
Bell Media employees are not eligible for packages, she said.
The union representing Bell employees issued a statement this week denouncing the buyout program.
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“Workforce reduction plans are a damaging stunt to temporarily reduce costs, making profits appear higher on the backs of workers. Bell cannot keep cutting jobs every year and expect the ship to turn itself around,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in the Feb. 10 press release.
“Canada is potentially facing a trade war with the U.S., and Bell has chosen to once again leave Canadian workers unemployed in part to satisfy its move into the American market.”
The telecommunications sector in Canada has experienced a decline in growth over the past year, prompting industry leaders like Bell Canada to divest assets as a strategy to lower its expenses.
Bell sold its 37.5 percent share in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to Rogers for $4.7 billion last September but then announced in November its decision to acquire the U.S. telecom firm Ziply for $5 billion.
Unifor said the latest announcement follows “decades of hollowing out Bell’s workforce.” Some of the most recent examples occurred last year.
The company announced last October its plan to cut 120 jobs at Expertech and 50 jobs at Bell Media in June of that year.
It announced larger job cuts last February, when it eliminated 9 percent of its workforce and sold 45 of its 103 regional radio stations across the country.
Another six percent of Bell Media jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were either shuttered or sold in the previous June. The 2023 cut resulted in 1,300 job losses while the February 2024 announcement saw 4,800 people lose their jobs.
