Telus to cut 1500 jobs but hike dividend 5 percent

One of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies will slash its workforce.

Vancouver-based Telus will cut 1,500 positions to save an estimated $125 million per year.

“While TELUS is one of the largest and most important infrastructure investors in Canada and has established a track record for leveraging these capital decisions, the generational investments we make also come with parallel investments in process and efficiency initiatives,” Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle said in a statement.

“These are very difficult decisions to make but a necessary element of aligning our organization with the growth, customer service and capital allocation activities we are implementing.”

Over the last five years, TELUS has reduced its real estate footprint across Canada by more than one million square feet. The company’s ‘Work Styles’ telecommuting policy provides its workers with the flexibility to work from home or outside the office. The company has a goal of converting 70 per cent of its workforce to the ‘Work Styles’ program by the end of this year.

The telecommunications giant also announced today that dividends to shareholders will increase by 10 per cent to 44 cents per share, payable January 4, 2016. Operating revenue this year reached $3.155 billion, an increase from $3.03 billion in the third quarter of 2013.

Net income increased by 2.8 per cent to $365 million while basic earnings per share increased by 5.2 per cent to $0.61.

“Our company continued to deliver solid financial and operational results in both our wireline and wireless businesses,” Entwistle continued.

Last month, TELUS confirmed it will be spending $1 billion over the near-term to upgrade B.C.’s fibre optic infrastructure, creating one of the world’s fastest wireless and most reliable internet services. A total of $2.8 billion in capital investments will be made across the province from 2014 through 2016.

Agencies/Canadajournal