After yesterday’s news that Rogers is offering buyout packages to nearly half its workforce, analysts are now saying it could kick off a broader wave of cuts across Canada’s telecom industry.
For those who missed it, Rogers confirmed it’s offering voluntary departure and retirement packages to nearly half of its employees. Bloomberg put that number at around 10,000 out of a total workforce of roughly 25,000.
The company’s spokesperson Zac Carreiro summed it up plainly yesterday, saying, “We are taking steps to adjust our cost structure to reflect the business realities of the current environment.”
But of course not everyone qualifies. On-air talent, Sportsnet staff, union members, and employees at MLSE and the Toronto Blue Jays are all excluded, which number around 3,000.
Desjardins analyst Jerome Dubreuil called it one of the biggest telecom workforce reductions in recent memory and said there’s “room for more cost cutting” at other large carriers too, speaking to CTV News. He also connected it directly to Rogers’ decision to slash capital spending by 30 percent this year, which they blamed on regulatory and competitive pressure.
Erik Bohlin, a telecom economics professor at Ivey Business School, told CTV News the cuts reflect something bigger happening across the whole industry. AI is handling more network management work than ever, traditional revenue streams are shrinking, and competition is eating into margins. “For Rogers in particular, this might be kind of a waking-up moment after the Rogers-Shaw merger that they have to compete in new ways,” he said.
Rogers has been working to clean up its balance sheet for a while. Last year it sold a $7-billion stake in its wireless infrastructure to Blackstone and now it is eyeing outside investors for a piece of its sports portfolio, which includes the Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays, valued at over $25 billion.
Next week, Bell and Telus will be announcing their first quarter earnings. We’ll have to wait and see what comes from those numbers and if we can expect any similar cost-cutting measures in the form of 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!
The gov’t should follow suit..lol