Bell announces thousands of layoffs in largest restructuring in 30 years

Nearly 5,000 Bell employees are soon to be out of a job as the telecom and media giant moves to lay off nine per cent of its staff.

Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. President and CEO Mirko Bibic broke the news Thursday morning, saying 4,800 positions are being cut at all levels of the company.

This marks the largest shakeup at the brand in a whopping thirty years, and will include the sale of 44 per cent of its regional radio stations in Ontario, B.C., Atlantic Canada and Quebec, which execs told the Canadian Press are no longer viable and are "a business that is going in the wrong direction."

#BREAKING BCE to lay off 4,800 employees this year – 9% of its workforce – to drive annual savings of $250M

The company says this is its "biggest workforce restructuring in nearly 30 years"#bell #cdnecon pic.twitter.com/ttKfuHp23i

— Philippe de Montigny (@philippedemo) February 8, 2024

While some impacted workers have already been made aware of their fate, others will find out in the coming months.

As Unifor National said back in June when Bell cut another 1,300 roles, sold three radio stations and shuttered six, "these layoffs cut deep, especially in smaller communities that rely on local news, and [it] undermines democracy."

At least one person online has noted this development's proximity to Bell Let's Talk Day, the corporation's annual campaign to raise awareness of mental health struggles.

The whole "Not a viable business anymore" I'm sure is motivating those employees left to do their best work.....Right??? Unreal

— Terry Mann (he/him) #bekind (@TerryMann4) February 8, 2024

A key driver of the layoffs, per Bibic, is the Government of Canada's lack of action in the case of Bill C-18 (the Online News Act) and Bill C-11 (the Copyright Modernization Act), both of which are putting media organizations in an "immediate crisis" position.

With the former, many news outlets are still blocked in Canada as Ottawa has yet to reach a deal with Meta, which the feds are asking to pay local news organizations for hosting our content.

Today's announcement follows largescale cutbacks at Canadian Tire, TIFF, the CBC and others in recent months.