3,300 Shaw employees accept voluntary departure packages

Leading Canadian telecommunications firm Shaw Communications has revealed that a total of 3,300 of its employees have accepted the voluntary departure packages (VDPs) that it offered at the end of last month.

The firm is looking to shrink its workforce as part of a wider digital transformation initiative that aims to improve its operations in order to better meet the growing expectations of its customers.]

See also:

• Shaw looks to shrink workforce as part of its digital efficiency initiative

• Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to challenge leading providers with cheap data plan

• Shaw adds 34,000 subscribers, with wireless revenue up 26.8%

“Shaw has built decades of success by being a company that adapts well and shapes its future,” said Jay Mehr, President, Shaw Communications. “We determine how we can improve, choose a path, and act on it. We are making the necessary changes to better serve our customers through a lean, integrated and more agile workforce.”

The 3,300 workers represent 25% of the company’s entire workforce, with the majority of those accepting the packages working within areas of Shaw’s business that it will now seek to optimise through the use of advanced technologies such as automation.

“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,” Mehr said.

The firm expects that the restructuring process of the business will cost approximately $450mn, inclusive of the VDP payments, with these set to be incurred throughout Q2 2018.