CBC/Radio-Canada employees will be invited to a virtual meeting with CEO Catherine Tait on Monday to take stock of the public broadcaster’s “financial challenges” and possible cuts.
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Several sources mention the possible layoffs of 600 to 700 employees across the country as part of these cuts. Both CBC and Radio-Canada would be affected by these potential cuts. In Quebec, this could result in more than 300 job cuts.
In an email sent to all employees on November 29, Catherine Tait stated that she would like to “provide an update on this [aux] “Financial Challenges” and “Take stock of what lies ahead in the coming months.”
CBC/Radio-Canada management told the Journal via email that it did not wish to comment at this time on the purpose of the meeting between Ms. Tait and employees of the public broadcaster.
As of this writing, the Radio-Canada Workers’ Union had not yet responded to our request for an interview.
Recall that Ms Tait announced last November that “hard efforts” would be needed to cut the public broadcaster’s spending by $100 million over the next three years. She did not rule out job cuts.
A meeting with employees in October also provided an opportunity to announce a hiring freeze.
These cuts would come in a rather difficult context for the media industry in Canada and Quebec. At the beginning of November, Quebecor announced the reduction of 500 jobs within the TVA Group as part of a reorganization of its services. At the beginning of autumn, Métro Média closed its doors. This summer, Bell Canada closed several radio stations and cut 1,300 jobs due to lost revenue.
As of April 1, 2023, CBC/Radio-Canada had 7,960 full-time equivalent employees nationwide.