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Bell cuts the number of employees at their Mississauga call centre, apparently it’s in the hundreds
Bell Mobility has reduced the number of employees at their Mississauga call centre. Apparently this has impacted between 300-500 employees, but Bell wouldn’t confirm the exact number of employees that were let go. Some employees who were given the pink slip say it was due to outsourcing, coupled with the unsuccessful bid to unionize. I reached out to Bell to get further details and they confirmed the reason is to staff up their call centres in both Montréal and Vancouver.
In an email Bell stated they are “growing its Montréal and Vancouver call centres, Vancouver to offer extended service hours and Montréal to provide more bilingual and French-language service… Growth in Vancouver and Montréal is balanced by some reductions to the team at the Creekbank call centre in Mississauga. We don’t release numbers on staffing changes to specific groups. We will work to find new positions at Bell for those eligible, those that depart will get appropriate severance.”
Via: Star
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57 comments for “Bell cuts the number of employees at their Mississauga call centre, apparently it’s in the hundreds”
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Poor workers. Another bonus increase for Bell execs.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Are you guys kidding me? Would you say that if you worked for them & got laid off? :/. They could have families to support. Tell their families all this. You guys are r*****s for saying good for them to getting laid off.
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OH!!!!! ITS ALWAYS LIKE THIS MANAGEMENT STAY IN THEIR POSITION ($$$$$$) AND SMALL WORKERS GET LAID OFF, REDUCE YOUR PRICES AND MORE CUSTOMERS WILL JOIN YOUR NETWORK
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Not shocking, they let all us contract demo reps go in September, and they told us during our “Here’s your one-week notice, good luck in October, bitches.” call that there’d be more cuts coming later..I guess this is it. Unfortunate, they were a fun company to work for and I feel for the people getting laid off.
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I wonder if new entrants will follow, heck my monthly phone bill doesnt even cover 2 hours salary for a call center rep.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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OHHH AND THEN THE MANAGEMENT SAYS (LOOK WE ARE SMART AND WE FIRED THE STUPID WORKERS), YOU KNOW WHAT THE MANAGEMENT ARE THE STUPID THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS
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Such is the way of corporations. Make the most money possible. Outsourcing (ie contract work) is generally cheaper than having to pay longterm employee benefits, and it’s easier to ‘let people go’ when it’s outsourced/contracted.
It’s not just Bell, but many other giant corporations are moving this way. Hence why small businesses are generally the creators of jobs, not massive corps like our beloved Canadian telecoms.
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yup! smells like when I worked for Virgin Mobile, and that was when they were not owned 100% by bell. This also happened to a friend of mine who was let go because “she helped too much and we all have to look the same here”. Yup, I kid you not.
King & Bathurst location in Toronto I am referring to.
instead they hire people in the Phillipines, Rogers customer service is horrible but at least they employ people in Canada (also their chatr customer service in newfoundland is SO BAD I LEFT 1 YEAR AGO!).
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If rates keep dropping, and wages keep increasing, what did we think was gonna happen.
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Bell should die along with Rim.
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So they can join Nortel.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Kid Canada–These are Canadian workers who have lost their jobs. Be mindful of that.
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Here we go again: Tank U fur calling Bell Canada.
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Cost saving measure – fair or not. It’s somebody’s job to maximize shareholder value.
Hopefully those that are jobless find better employment.
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You know i was considering going with Bell when the Galaxy Nexus came out. Was even considering getting the BELL TV at home but then they tried to be anal retentive and FORCE customers to go with a 3 year contract to get the Galaxy Nexus.
That left a bad taste and now i have a Brand new Samsung Galaxy Nexus ” no contract” for $599 and Rogers has kept me as a customer. Thanks you Rogers.
Greed will always bite you in the behind eventualy.
Here is a tip Bell maybe you should start being more friendly towards you current customers and the new ones not yet signed on. That will go a long way in the long run instead you come off as a Bully.
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(part one)
REALITY: In 2012, Bell Canada INCREASED monthly bills for residential services by $7 for “triple play” Bell Bundle customers:
* $2 increase for all Internet plans
* $2 increase for all residential phone plans
* $3 increase to satellite and “Fibe” TV customers
Paper bill? These used to be free for non-Mobility customers, but since 2012, they now cost $2 extra. And i would know, because i had both paper bills and e-bills from Bell for many, many years. The total price increase would have been $9 by keeping a paper bill.
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(part two)
Long distance plans cost $1 to $2.95 more per month, too.
If that wasn’t enough, the Internet price increase is accompanied with a 10 GB DECREASE for Fibe 10, 12 and 16 customers. Fibe 25 have it even worse: their cap is lowered by 25 GB.
Bell has NO reason to be cutting jobs, when they’re increasing prices and acquiring lots of businesses: sports-related sponsorships, team stakes and the Centre Bell; The Source stores; Virgin Mobile Canada, historically a game-changer for wireless in Canada; CTV, along with cutting the A Channel and almost all local programming… the list goes on and own. It’s true that WIND fired Canadian employees, and i’m not going to give them a “sorry pass”, either. But Bell’s boasting about over 125 years in business. Bell likes to say that they’re the best at this and the best at that. We should be ashamed if we allow Bell to define what’s best for us. The only “best” thing Bell does is what they care the most about: increasing their revenues while providing “good enough” service.
Sources: Stop The Cap! and Bell itself.
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Well said.
Unfortunately, the only way we can change this is to speak with our wallets.
Shaw has done the same over the last 2 years. Multiple price increases, expensive and outdated hardware, poor HD content. So I went to Telus… for the same price as I was paying at Shaw I basically got better everything… faster internet + higher data cap, more HD channels, PVR anywhere, XBOX 360, better hardware, and remote record. As a result, all my TVs (3) are all HD now as opposed to before when only 1 TV was HD and the other 2 were just SD (because it costs more than I’m willing to pay for an HD box back then).
You just wait. The Bell execs are going to get huge bonuses this year because they pulled off a price increase without any backlash and they fired some employees.
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BTW, I do not work for Telus. I’m just a happy customer.
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Oh no! How will this affect Bell’s STELLAR customer service???
Sorry, I have no sympathy for Bell employees, as I have been CONSTANTLY mistreated by them in the past.
As for anyone who thinks that this will translate to lower prices, think again. Companies charge as much as they can for services, regardless of what it costs them. Lower salaries do not mean lower prices. The only thing that has decreased prices in Canada has been increased competition.
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Prediction:
Due to the constant outsourcing of jobs, North Americans will no longer be able to afford services from companies like Bell. These companies will then go bankrupt (since they only sell services to North Americans) and be bought by multi-national corporations from the new 1st world countries. The reversal will be complete..welcome to 3rd world North America.
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not to defend bell, as they are as evil as it gets, but its not always the bottom employees that get let go. a few years ago bell laid off 500 middle and upper management positions too while they were “streamlining” operations.
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the funny thing is because they outsource workers. people like kidcanada and other a******** come into the store and complain their a*s off about how BELL customer service sucks.. its because of people like this. It not the Customer service its YOU.
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…apparently people aren’t reading the full story. When they say outsourcing, it’s going to other Canadians. While it sucks for the people who are getting laid off, it’s not like they’re making much more of a profit. Especially as BC will have a similar minimum wage to Ontario in may (I use minimum as a baseline, it could be more).
Not like they’re being packaged off to India for a greater profit margin.
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I don’t particularly like bell, but I feel bad for the people getting laid off! Yeah large corporations take all the tax breaks they can get here, then they outsource the jobs somewhere else!
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yup! sympatico internet=india. depending what time of day you call virgin mobile (bell) it is in Phillipines….solo=phillipines (again bell).
Koodo (telus) does same thing except in guatamala and somewhere else I forgot, interesting they use that Muchachos guy and where are the workers employed near?
again, rogers and fido customer service = not best (i prefer fido best even though owned by rogers, will not deal with rogers or chatr) but at least they are all in Canada.
example customer service chatr never returned call or returned written letter for problems with phone making calls, yet fido resolved in 48 hopurs (both owned by rogers using same network). that is where customer service matters to me.
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Speaking as a Bell employee… If I have to speak to a call centre agent from Montreal instead of Mississauga or Vancouver I will end my career with Bell. Note to Bell customers, 9.9 out of 10 times, the information a Montreal agent gives you is wrong.
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it’s funny, all the Bell mobility employes in montreal will say the same about toronto agents..yet we are all sad our collegues are gone, these are very stressfull times.
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As a fellow employee I can tell you why. Everything is a*s backwards in Quebec. They know the local s**t, but everything else, forget it. If they have a French or Indian accent I jut hang up and try again. The former because they dont know, the latter because they must be hard of hearing.
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Record profits.
The company is profitable and still there will be lay offs.
When its not profitable lay off.
When its profitable lay off.
The difference is, executive needs a higher bonus.
To have this they reduce cost, ahem the workers.
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Sorry to hear about this… I sincerely wonder why they did this when they rank one of the lowest companies in terms of customer service. Guess they thought that things can’t get worse so why bother trying?
Best wishes to those affected and I hope you land somewhere else soon.
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Bell does not support it’s customers, instead referencing confusing and clause hidden contracts. Will not stand behind it’s products. Now will not stand behind it’s workers. Sad
Oh, Go Leafs Go, yeah right !!!
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Cutting jobs in inefficient departments is a necessary part of business but the company has a responsibility to retrain and rehire workers in growing parts of the business. What retraining programs does Bell offer?
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Those that believe that cost-cutting by large companies translate into lower cost for the consumer is incredibly naive when we have three companies that dominate the market bascially colludes in pricing. There’s a reason why every time Rogers does a promotion, you can expect Bell to not be very far behind offering the exact same plan.
Cutting costs means bigger paychecks to the executives. They also give bigger returns to shareholders, which for the most parts are not the little guys.
Although it says they are increasing service in Vancouver and Montreal, I do wonder how many they fired in Mississauga and hired in the other two cities. I won’t be surprised if the net total is lower though.
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you guys should check your rrsp’s and mutual funds to make sure you SELL all of your shares of bce that you are likely holding, bet you didnt even know that.
you all benefit from actions like this from BCE, whether you like it or not. want a nice and safe retirement? then keep your mouth shut.
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My bce stock has gone up 19% in the past year. They’re doing something right, and I hope they keep on doing it. They get the best devices first (eg. nexus) and have the best network. Instead of complaining, buy bce stock.
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http://tiny.cc/vru92
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Don’t know anybody working for Bell, since it’s close to home (GTA), I will not renew my Family contract with them, simple as that.
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I work construction in Alberta. I pay inexperienced people 15 bucks an hour to start and after a year they all make 19plus hour. Unfortunately cause of government policies its hard to fire people. This is good for Bell cause they get rid of the workers who are less desirable when they lay off. Business is business. Don’t criticize someone else s business until you’ve run there business. At least a lot of these people will be able to collect poagie.
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This is just the beginning. Many wireless retail stores are closing too because wages keep going up and people dont wanna pay retail prices and buy everything on kijiji or ebay. more people are switching to prepaid. Wait till group deals kill the wireless retail business like it did to salons and restaurants.
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This is sad news, many of those people probably have mortgages to pay and family to raise. I blame the cheap consumers that wants unlimited everything for a measly $40/month. I’m sure some of them even think $30 is too expensive for unlimited everything.
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Lets make up our minds people, Do we want cheaper wireless like the rest of the world, Then let them pay cheaper wages like rest of the world.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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So the two companies that actually outsource their customer contact centre jobs overseas have more Canadian based frontline staff compared to Rogers which does not outsource overseas at all? Where did you get this information from?
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You are officially a d*****s.
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Unless the economy continuously grows, you can’t expect to increase wages and benefits forever without something breaking the camel’s back. Unions should really consider hiring people that understand the basic concepts of finance and macroeconomics, or fire the i****s they already have on the payroll.
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Rogers actually outsources to the States as well
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Kid Canada I hope you get it in the worse way.
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Maybe the i****s should have been more polite when they had the chance. Half are i****s and the other half are rude. Of course it’s pointless if management that allows this behavior stays. The problem is from the top down. Its a virtual monopoly and behaves that way. Now it’s even more of a monopoly with it’s new partnership with Rogers.
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at least 2500 jobs were cut from Bell beginning in August of 2011. This was a mandated head count reduction of 10% from each area of the company by George Cope. There is a thread on dslforums.com about it.
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I have a feeling that there is something more going on here. Somebody posted that the outsourced jobs are going to other Canadians. Were these laid off employees not given the opportunity to take an outsourced job? ie. take the outsourced job and relocate to Vancouver?
Also, outsourced jobs are good for Corps. but not good for us. The reason being is that traditional workers employed by Corps. receive job benefits… whereas outsourced jobs probably do not. This saves a lot of money for the company.
This brings me to the point about Unions. I read all over the internet that there is no reason for Unions to exist nowadays given our labour laws. Well, Unions exist for a reason. they unite workers so that when a company tries to pull sh!t like this, the united effort of the workforce can bring a company to it’s knees. That is the power of a Union. Individual efforts are worthless, you need to hit the company where it hurts… that is, stop the revenue stream by going on strike.
It’s ironic how workers go on strike to fight for 1,2, or 5% wage increases… and we are all upset about it. Yet, corp. execs are able to give themselves 1+ million bonuses with 10% salary increase without much of anybody complaining.
Next time you are inconvenienced by striking workers, think about it.
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It’s actually worse than reported. Bell let go 1500 people at the end of 3rd quarter. Business Units presidents, VPs, directors, managers and analysts to cut costs. I guess competitive pricing is really having an impact. The sad part is that their workforce was set to shrink anyways as the old-timers were set to retire at the end of the year. And yet, they still went ahead and fired all these people. Even some that were going to retire 3 months later!
But hey it’s not all bad. If any of the fired employees go bezerk, Bell funds projects for mental illness. So they’re covered…! What a joke!
I’ve already started switching over my services. Bell can kiss my a*s!!!
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Every time I call Bell the call goes to a Filipino overseas. I really wish call centre jobs would stay in this damn country. At least I’m able to understand the agent.
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Bell’s call centres wasn’t exactly known for providing good customer service. Now that Bell is doing something about it, everyone should be glad instead of feeling sorry for the people who never took their jobs seriously from the first place.
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