CALGARY, Alberta, March 24 (UPI) -- Canadian communications and media giant Shaw Communications has cut 4 percent of its staff by laying off 500 workers, the company said.
In a release from its Calgary, Alberta, headquarters, Shaw President Peter Bissonnette said the cuts affected mostly management-level workers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the Calgary Sun reported Thursday.
He said the downsizing was necessary to respond to mounting competition for cell phone and wireless market share in Western Canada, primarily from Vancouver-based Telus.
"It's a very, very competitive world that we're living in, and we need to be as effective and lean as possible," Bissonnette said. "And so we've gone through the entire company and looked at ways that we can, in fact, reduce costs."
The Shaw conglomerate also operates Shaw Media, Shaw Television and Global TV News.
A decade ago, Shaw employed 2,500 people, but has grown to a workforce of about 13,000, the report said.
