CanWest slashes 560 jobs

TORONTO—Cost pressures and plunging share prices prompted Canadian publisher and broadcaster CanWest Global Communications Corp. to cut 560 jobs—about five percent of its workforce—yesterday as the company faces a rougher economy and more competition.
The company, which employs about 10,500 people in Canada, said the cuts would save $61 million a year.

“We are implementing a number of initiatives that will provide savings that will allow us to better compete in the current economic environment, without compromising our core products and services,” CEO Leonard Asper said in a statement.
“It will not impact our strategy to invest in growth media like digital online, mobile, and specialty channels.”
The cuts will be made through voluntary buy-outs, attrition, and layoffs, and come on top of several hundred jobs that have been eliminated over the last two years, CanWest said.
In its news release, the Winnipeg company said about 210 jobs will be cut through a restructuring of news operations at CanWest Broadcasting’s E! stations.
CanWest Publishing, which operates the former Southam chain and other papers, will see about 350 positions disappear through a restructuring of the community newspaper group.
The company also will cut the physical size of some newspapers to reduce costs and focus efforts on expanding digital media operations.
Peter Murdoch, of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, criticized “the binge of acquisitions” for the company’s financial troubles.
“Canada’s largest media company is trading at a penny-stock level with incredible debt obligations,” Murdoch said. “What is paying the price here is not only employees but Canadian consumers.”