Shaw Communications is closing its Kelowna call centre and cutting 180 jobs.
Following a year-long review of its operations, Shaw’s customer care operations will be reorganized over the next 11 months around what it calls “centres of expertise.”
“Our customers have told us they value our Canadian-based, personal customer service as a defining feature of doing business with Shaw,” said Chris Kucharski, senior vice-president of consumer affairs in a press release.
“We are committed to maintaining all of our service operations in Canada, and moving to centres of expertise will enhance our ability to better deliver exceptional customer service now and over the long term.”
The company said the job cuts only affect the call centre in Kelowna, not the other parts of Shaw’s operations in the Okanagan.
Shaw’s customer care operations will be realigned in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal.
The services include technical service, sales and billing, loyalty care, technical field support, e-Care, payment solutions and satellite operations.
About 1,600 employees in Shaw’s call centres in Calgary, Edmonton and Kelowna will be offered the choice of relocating to another Shaw call centre, the opportunity to take on new roles in their current location or accepting a severance package.
As part of the process, Shaw’s Edmonton contact centre operation and part of its Kelowna operation will be closed in June, and its Calgary contact centre operations will be closed in January 2016. Shaw will also be consolidating six of its retail stores into neighbouring locations.
“We decided to expand Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal after looking at the long-term performance of each of our locations according to a number of operational factors, and their ability to support our growing business,” said Kucharski.
“We deeply value the contributions our employees make to our business. We know that change is difficult and we will support them during this process. We have allowed several months for a smooth transition, and to provide employees with opportunities to continue growing in our company.”
