WINNIPEG – MTS wants to trim its workforce through early retirement packages, but says the move has nothing to do with its pending merger with Bell Canada.
According to a CBC News report, MTS is urging 50 employees to apply for early retirement through a "voluntary workforce reduction”. The program will affect information services, finance and warehouse jobs, and employees may apply until October 13, 2016.
While the company said that the program will improve workflow and save money, the Telecommunications Employees Association of Manitoba (TEAM) says that it will result in remaining employees having to juggle greater workloads.
"It's become more and more difficult to get pay increases for our members, there are tighter restrictions on training, more workload, things getting a bit more stressed”, said TEAM executive director Bob Linsdell, in the report. “And that has enabled MTS over the past few years to keep costs down, and this is more of that."
Linsdell says that MTS currently employs about 2,600 people, compared to 4,000 about two decades ago. By contrast, Saskatchewan-based telecom SaskTel currently has 3,800 workers.
"While we are sometimes faced with difficult business choices, our decisions are based on the long-term success of the company and investing in better service for our customers," MTS said in the report. "By improving our cost structure, we can better invest in processes, systems and tools to enhance our customer experience, which is key to delivering on our strategy and the future success of our company."
