Bell Media axes 1,300 staff
June 15, 2023
Canada’s Bell Media is made another round of job layoffs, amounting to 1,300 staff, around 6 per cent of its workforce, and has also shuttered six of its AM radio stations.
Bell Media President and CEO, Mirko Bibic, said where possible, vacant positions will be eliminated to minimise the impact of the layoffs.
“These roles are largely in management, which will see a reduction of 6 per cent. And there will be 20 per cent fewer executive roles in the company than in 2020. The job reductions are consistent with but smaller than similar reductions announced by other leading technology and media companies across North America in recent months,” said Bibic.
Bibic attributed profit declines of as much as 50 per cent in the company’s radio business pre- to post-pandemic, along with declines in legacy phone revenues, to the actions.
“Over our 143-year history, one of the things that has set Bell apart is our ability to reinvent ourselves when faced with challenge, technological evolution and change. Our industry, like other highly competitive industries, is unforgiving to those who don’t adapt. At Bell Canada, every year we can expect to lose over $250 million in legacy phone revenues. Across Bell Media’s news operations, despite being Canada’s news leader, we incur $40 million and growing in annual operating losses, and the profitability of our radio business has been cut in half since the onset of Covid. These are three examples, but they show that to succeed in today’s challenging economic, regulatory and competitive environment and be ready for what comes next, we need to accelerate our shift away from how telecom and media companies have operated in the past,” added Bibic