Due to budget impacts related to COVID-19, the City of London, Ont., has announced additional layoffs, impacting more than 200 seasonal and temporary employees.
On Friday, the city released a statement saying approximately 190 seasonal temporary and casual employees have had their start dates deferred or been placed on temporary unpaid leave, with an additional 31 students whose contracts have been cancelled.
The city has also halted all recruitment of any new employees with the exception of essential roles.
“With reductions in service delivery and modified day-to-day operations, the City has now reached a point where there is work that is either not possible or not required, which means additional workforce adjustments are necessary,” the statement read.
These staffing changes come after the city put around 800 casual employees on unpaid temporary leave and delayed the start date of 300 seasonal staff back in April.
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The city estimates the financial impact of the pandemic to be between a $23-million to $33-million shortfall for the 2020 municipal budget.
“This is difficult, but COVID-19 has posed a significant financial challenge for London,” said Lynne Livingstone, city manager.
“We’ve made every effort to make sure that as many employees as possible are working, but we’ve reached a point in this where it’s not possible or necessary, based on current operations.”
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