The Telus Corporation logo is seen on the outside of the company's headquarters in downtown Vancouver, on Jan. 19, 2023.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Telus Corp. T-T has offered severance packages to about 700 employees across Canada, according to the unions representing those employees.
CUPE says the voluntary offers affect 100 members of the union representing Telus employees in Quebec, SQET-CUPE 5044; 90 members of the union representing Telus management staff, SAMT-CUPE 5144; and approximately 510 members of the Syndicat des Métallos, the Quebec branch of the United Steelworkers Union.
The unions represent office workers as well as trades workers.
According to Luc Pouliot, the president of SQET-CUPE 5044, Telus told employees that the offers were the result of a reduction in workload. He said that over the past 10 years, the company has moved many of its customer service jobs, formerly based in Quebec, to countries such as Morocco and Romania.
In a statement, Telus said it has made significant investments in its technology that have enhanced the reliability and efficiency of its infrastructure. To further support this transformation, the company says it is offering voluntary packages that exceed the requirements of the Canada Labour Code and give employees the option to retire or pursue a career outside the company.
“It is a standard operating practice for us to offer voluntary separation programs to a broad number of team members in an effort to be fair and equitable to those in the impacted work areas,” said Telus spokesperson Richard Gilhooley in an e-mail.
“We anticipate a very small number of the team members being canvassed will be interested in accepting a voluntary package and reserve the right to limit the number of departures,” he said.
CUPE, like other unions, has asked the government to impose concrete conditions on companies receiving public assistance to preserve jobs in Canada.
In 2023, Telus offered buyouts to 2,000 employees in a bid to shed several hundred jobs. At the time, the company said the buyouts were the result of significant investments it had made in customer service technology and self-serve options for customers.
According to the company’s latest annual report, Telus had 106,400 active employees at the end of 2023.