WINNIPEG – Great-West Lifeco is cutting 1,500 jobs over the next two years in response to changing technology and customer expectations.
The Winnipeg-based insurance company said the cuts are equal to 13 per cent of the company’s 12,000 employees across the country.
Around 450 jobs will be slashed in Winnipeg, according to a company spokesperson.
Some employees will be offered a severance package. The company will also be reducing it’s temporary workforce and offering a voluntary retirement program.
Great-West (TSX:GWO) said the job cuts are part of a transformation of its business as it faces heightened competition.
“These are difficult but necessary decisions that we are not taking lightly,” Paul Mahon, president and CEP of Great-West Lifeco said in a media release Tuesday.
“To ensure we remain competitive and drive future growth, we are reducing costs and becoming more efficient, while at the same time investing more in customer-focused innovations and service offerings.”
More to come
With files from the Canadian Press