Bell Canada to ax 2,500 jobs

MONTREAL, July 28 (UPI) -- About 2,500 managers at Bell Canada will lose their jobs as the telecommunications company tightens its belt, its parent firm said Monday.

BCE Inc. said the staff cutbacks represent about 15 percent of Bell Canada's management staff and about 6 percent of its overall workforce, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported.

The cuts, together with reductions announced July 11, are expected to save Bell about $300 million a year, the CBC said.

"It is always difficult to see colleagues depart, but these changes are absolutely necessary," George Cope, president and chief executive officer of BCE and Bell Canada, said in a news release.

"We are moving forward with a streamlined management structure that brings everyone at Bell closer to the customer and allows us to compete more effectively. This new structure positions us as a far more efficient and cost-effective operator in the intensely competitive Canadian communications marketplace."

Also this month, BCE agreed to a $51.7 billion takeover by a group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.