Bell Canada Enterprises is laying off close to 700 employees — including 650 managers — in the latest round of layoffs to hit the beleaguered telecom.
Forty of the positions cut Thursday took place at subsidiary Bell Media, primarily on the corporate side as part of its “ongoing transformation to a digital media and content leader,” said BCE’s spokesperson Luc Levasseur.
Four news management positions in Toronto are among the impacted roles.
The 650 positions being eliminated at BCE represent under two per cent of its workforce and are located across the country. The telecom said the changes to its team structure are intended to advance its “three-year strategic plan focused on delivering sustainable growth across all key business units.”
“We know this is difficult for those who are impacted and we are supporting each person affected,” Levasseur said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the job cuts will not affect the company’s operations or customer service. “The key part of our strategy is to keep our customers first,” he said.
Of the Bell Media layoffs, the company said: “We thank all departing employees for their dedication and contributions.”
The move by Bell Thursday continue a pattern workforce reductions at the company in recent years. Earlier in February this year, Bell announced an “enhanced voluntary separation program” for around 1,200 unionized employees. Bell Media laid off nearly 100 workers later that month, most of whom were in Toronto and Montreal. In May, the company drastically cut its dividend citing increased price competition and challenges from inflation and an uncertain economic outlook.
BCE’s stock price did not take a hit from the layoff news. Instead, it inched higher slightly, rising from $31.95 in the morning to $32.37 by 4 p.m. Thursday.
The company posted a profit of $4.5 billion in the quarter ending Sept. 30, helped by the sale of its minority stake in MLSE and lower impairment charges. That compares to a $1.24-billion loss in the same quarter a year earlier. Operating revenue rose to $6.05 billion from $5.97 billion a year ago.
The February job loss was a breaking point for one former software development manager who left the company voluntarily in April after 17 years.
“It’s heartbreaking and concerning,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous, before this week’s layoffs. He said he was “bombarded” with messages from many former colleagues. “I heard some names who I would call the backbone of this company who were let go. I was actually shocked.”
He said that over the past few years, he has seen Bell conduct layoffs almost every six months, often from the top down, which has taken a toll on morale.
After each round, he worked to rebuild his team, only to have another layoff follow, he said.
“It got to the point that everyone was overworked, at least in my team,” he said. “February was the point when I went to my director. I was like, this is it. I cannot continue here.”
In 2024, Bell cut 4,800 jobs — nine per cent of its workforce — across the country, marking its largest restructuring in almost 30 years. It also announced plans to sell 45 radio stations and close more than 100 The Source stores.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the layoffs a ”garbage decision” that made him “pretty pissed off.”
The company owns CTV, CTV News, TSN, CP24, and Crave, among other media assets. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said last year that CTV’s conventional stations lost more than $180 million in 2023.
Bell also eliminated 1,300 positions in June 2023, saying at the time that it was moving toward “greater collaboration and efficiency” in how it delivers the news.
More unionized-job losses may be on the way, warned the Unifor Local 6006 office, which represents more than 2,000 Bell clerical workers in Ontario and Quebec.
The union is currently bargaining with the telecom company for a new contract agreement.
“Our discussions with the employer suggest that the coming years may bring significant challenges. Bell appears determined to continue reducing its workforce while increasingly relying on automation and new technologies,” the union said in its bargaining update on Thursday.
Two years ago, Unifor Local 6006 represented some 4,000 Bell clerical workers, including some in call centres, but has seen its ranks cut in half.
Dana Anne-James, a representative of the local, said she does not believe the layoffs announced on Tuesday will be limited to management.
“Because if you get rid of management, you’re also going to come back again for clerical,” she said. “Bell’s thing of going from a telecommunications to a technological based company with no clear vision or adaptation to keep Canadians working in a unionized environment is reprehensible.”
Bell’s Levasseur said the reduction of non-unionized management positions announced Thursday “is separate from ongoing negotiations with Unifor’s clerical bargaining unit.”
Bell regularly examines its organizational setup to “improve processes and simplify operations,” he said. In cases where cuts involve unionized employees, it aims to limit disruption by using natural attrition and voluntary packages first.
