3,300 Shaw employees accept voluntary buyouts
Shaw Communications says 3,300 of its employees have decided to take a voluntary buyout package — far above the company’s original estimate of about 650.
The Calgary-based company says about one-quarter of its workforce will be departing over an 18-month period as part of a previously announced multi-year transformation of its business.
Among the departures will be chief financial officer Vito Culmone, who will be leaving the organization May 4. He’ll be replaced by Trevor English, a 20year employee, who has been chief strategy officer responsible for business development.
Shaw originally estimated about 10 per cent of the 6,500 eligible employees would take the voluntary buyouts, when they were announced about two weeks ago.
But Shaw president Jay Mehr said Thursday in a statement that “the actual uptake falls within scenarios considered and therefore we expect the business to continue to operate in the normal course with no impact on customer experience.”
It says the company will manage the timing of the departures in an orderly fashion to minimize the impact on the business. In addition, the majority of its customer care, retail and sales employees weren’t eligible for buyouts.
Most of the voluntary departures are in areas of Shaw’s business that can be further optimized through the use of technology and a more efficient service delivery model, the company said.