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Bell Canada says it is cutting about 690 employees, mostly managers, to help reduce debt and spur growth. The cuts follow thousands of company layoffs last year.
This time around, Bell says it is cutting about 650 nonunion management positions nationwide, representing less than two percent of its workforce.
Canada's largest communications company said it is also cutting about 40 jobs at Bell Media, its media and entertainment subsidiary.
“We have made the difficult but necessary decision” to reduce the number of managers to implement the company's three-year strategic plan to achieve “sustainable growth,” Bell told CBC News via email.
He did not provide further explanation for the job cuts at Bell Media, but said he thanked the laid-off employees “for their dedication and contributions.”
Earlier this year, Bell offered severance packages to 1,200 unionized employees, citing “unprecedented challenges” in the telecom industry for the move.
Canada's telecom industry saw a slowdown in growth last year, with major players such as BCE and Rogers shedding some assets as they tried to cut costs.
Last September, Bell sold its 37.5 percent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) to Rogers for $4.7 billion. A few months later, the company announced that it would buy US telecommunications company Ziply for $5 billion.
TThe company has cut thousands of jobs over the past year and a half. This includes 1300 cuts in June 2023, and in February 2024, Bell announced that 4800 employees were laid off and will close several dozen radio stations, as well as lead to further layoffs aimed at technical staff in June of the same year.
