The CBC is cutting 800 jobs across Canada, but it’s not yet known how many local positions will be lost.
Staff across the country learned the news Wednesday. But detailed breakdowns will come out in further meetings, which begin today.
“Obviously we’re all incredibly sad,” said veteran Halifax CBC Radio reporter Jean Laroche. “We’ll be seeing some of our colleagues go out the door by September.”
Employees will be subjected to a bumping system similar to what was seen recently at The Chronicle Herald. Workers with more experience who have their position cut can replace an employee with less seniority.
In this case, bumping could happen across the Maritime region. So an employee cut in Sydney could replace someone in Moncton or Halifax, etc.
Laroche said he expects these cuts to hurt even more than the layoffs of the mid-1990s because there are now fewer people in the CBC workforce.
“For those of us who have been around long enough, this is déjà vu all over again,” he said.
Executives announced they would cut 393 positions in English services and 336 in French services to cover a $171 million shortfall. The broadcaster also needs to sell $125 million in assets.
