600 workers to be let go, 200 open positions to be eliminated
CBC is making a major workforce reduction to manage roughly $125 million in budget pressures forecast for the 2024–25 fiscal year
The employer is expecting to cut about 600 union and non-union positions, and eliminate 200 currently vacant positions. This will affect technology and infrastructure and other corporate divisions.
“CBC/Radio-Canada is not immune to the upheaval facing the Canadian media industry. We’ve successfully managed serious structural declines in our business for many years, but we no longer have the flexibility to do so without reductions,” says Catherine Tait, president and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada.
“We understand how concerning this is to the people affected and to the Canadians who depend on our programs and services. We will have more details in the months ahead, but we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact of these measures.”
The number of people to be let go is equivalent to about 10 per cent of CBC’s workforce, according to a CBC report.
Phased reductions of workforce
CBC is phasing-in the reductions for each division, with some starting immediately and most happening throughout the next 12 months.
About 400 Desjardins employees are also set to lose jobs, according to a report released in October.
CBC will also be reducing its English and French programming budgets for the next fiscal year, including $40 million in independent production commissions and program acquisitions.
Earlier this year, CBC began implementing over $25 million in discretionary cost reductions including travel, sponsorships, marketing and postponement of technology initiatives. It also limited filling vacant positions.
Earlier this year, RBC announced that it will have to cut around one or two per cent of employees, despite the financial services giant recorded net income of $3.9 billion for its second quarter, which is better than $295 million from the prior year.
Telus, Shopify, Accenture and Bell Canada have also announced workforce reductions in the previous months.
