The telecommunications giant BCE announced Thursday the elimination of nearly 4,800 jobs, or 9% of its workforce, as well as the sale of 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.
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This is the largest restructuring of the workforce in almost three decades for the telecommunications and information giant, which anticipates an increase in its annual dividend of 3.1% in 2024.
With these cuts, Bell’s parent company expects to achieve savings of $150 to $200 million during 2024, or even $250 million on an annualized basis. The company’s net income fell 23.3% to $435 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
BCE anticipates a reduction of at least $500 million in investment spending as well as a reduction in the expansion of the fiber optic network due to federal policies and decisions “that discourage investment.”
For Bell Media, advertising revenues fell by $140 million in 2023 compared to 2022. Annual operating losses amount to more than $40 million for all news services.
“The changes announced today are not easy, but they are necessary to respond to evolving external factors, accelerate our transformation and ensure the health and longevity of Bell,” said Mirko Bibic, President and Chief Executive Officer. management of BCE and Bell Canada.
In an open letter sent to the entire Bell team, Mr. Bibic affirms that “the economic context remains very difficult” and deplores that government and regulatory decisions “are increasing the burden weighing on our company”.
“These undermine investments in our networks, fail to support our media activities in times of crisis and delay ensuring fair competition with global technology giants. We are concerned by the CRTC’s recent decision which forces us to provide access to our high-speed fiber optic network to resellers, even before we have been able to recover our investments of several billion dollars,” he said. -he writes, specifying that Bell Canada forecasts an annual loss of revenue linked to traditional telephone services of more than $250 million.
Media crisis
BCE’s announcement adds to a long string of bad news that has affected the media in recent months. In the case of BCE, this is a second wave after the announcement of the elimination of 1,300 positions in June, including 20% among senior management, and the closure of six radio stations, notably due to ” major changes” in the media and technology industry and “a challenging regulatory environment”.
In November, Quebecor announced more than 500 job cuts at Groupe TVA which followed cuts of 240 positions a year ago.
“This demonstrates the seriousness of the situation we currently find ourselves in. The business model of traditional television is forever disrupted,” argued the president and CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau.
Quebecor blamed part of its financial woes on growing competition from digital broadcasting platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Tou.tv EXTRA, Disney+ and Crave.
The daily newspapers of the Coops de l’information have let go a third of their staff. Last summer, the daily Métro and the weeklies of Métro Média went bankrupt. Postmedia (11% of the workforce) also announced cuts.
In addition to declining advertising revenues, the media must also deal with the decision of Meta (Facebook, Instagram) to block their content on its social networks, in reaction to Bill C-18 of the federal government. Google had threatened to follow suit with its famous search engine before reaching an agreement with Ottawa.