Shaw Communications Offering Buyout Program to 6,500 Employees

8 years ago

Shaw Communications is offering buyouts to approximately half of its work force in the midst of a “total business transformation.” The move is aimed at reducing operating costs as more subscribers go online for customer support.

On Tuesday, the Calgary-based company confirmed that it has offered voluntary severance packages to 6,500 non-unionized employees of both Shaw and Freedom Mobile. The company is expecting a total of about 10 percent of those workers to accept the offer.

According to its 2017 annual report, the company has a total of 14,000 employees.

Shaw said the cuts are part of a multiyear initiative to “reinvent its operating model” as it reviews operations and internal processes across all parts of the cable and wireless company. In a statement, Shaw president Jay Mehr said:

“This is a program that is intended to reduce our workforce while not penalizing employees for our operational transformation. As we reinvent our customer delivery model to be more digital, online, or e-care, we’re very pleased to offer generous packages to our team members throughout the organization who have built this company.”

It bought Freedom Mobile in 2016, transforming Shaw into the country’s fourth-largest wireless company. The wireless carrier recently announced plans to close a call centre in Windsor, Ontario with the loss of about 130 jobs.

Want to see more of our stories on Google?

P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!