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Canadian, U.S. companies start 2024 with layoffs. What to know – Global News

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Companies in the United States and Canada have kicked off 2024 with thousands of job cuts across sectors, signaling that the spate of layoffs seen in 2023 could persist as they scramble to rein in costs.

While job cut announcements in the United States more than doubled month-on-month to 82,307 in January, they were down 20 per cent from a year earlier, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas earlier in February.

The technology sector, which accounted for the highest number of layoffs in 2023, has seen 34,000 job cuts in 141 firms so far this year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi.

Here is a snapshot of job cuts announced so far in 2024:

TECHNOLOGY

Amazon’s job cuts include less than five per cent of employees at Buy with Prime unit, five per cent at audiobook and podcast division Audible, several hundred in streaming and studio operations, 35 per cent at streaming unit Twitch and a few hundred at healthcare units One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.

Layoffs at Alphabet include dozens at division for developing new technology X Lab, hundreds in advertising sales team, hundreds across teams, including hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, and a majority in augmented reality team.



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Microsoft is cutting around 1,900 jobs at gaming divisions Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

IBM plans to lay off some employees in 2024, but will hire more for AI-centered roles.

E-commerce firm eBay plans to cut about 1,000 roles, or around nine per cent of its workforce.

Videogame software provider Unity Software to cut about 25 per cent of workforce, or 1,800 jobs.

DocuSign plans to reduce workforce by about six per cent, or 400 employees, with a majority in its sales and marketing organizations.

Snap plans to cut around 528 jobs, or 10 per cent of its global workforce.

Salesforce is laying off about 700 employees, or roughly one per cent of its global workforce.

Network giant Cisco is planning to restructure its business which will include laying off thousands of employees.



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Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation lays off three per cent of workforce.


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Canada’s BlackBerry plans more layoffs, in addition to about 200 job cuts in the prior quarter.

Satellite radio company SiriusXM plans to reduce workforce by about three per cent, or about 160 roles.

Bumble is set to eliminate 350 jobs, or about 30 per cent of its workforce.

Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios is set to cut jobs as the studio has completed production on some shows.

Comcast-owned British media group Sky plans to cut about 1,000 jobs across its businesses this year.

The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 journalists.



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Paramount Global is planning to conduct unspecified number of layoffs.

Business Insider plans to lay off around eight per cent of its staff.

Bell Canada plans to slash 4,800 jobs.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

PayPal Holdings is planning to cut about 2,500 jobs, or nine per cent of its global workforce this year.

Payments firm Block Inc has started to cut unspecified jobs.

Citigroup is planning to reduce its headcount by 20,000 people over the next two years.

Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley is planning to cut hundreds of jobs in its wealth management unit, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the cuts will impact less than one per cent of the division’s employees.



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Exchange operator Nasdaq plans to slash hundreds of jobs as it integrates fintech firm Adenza into its business.

Asset manager BlackRock is set to cut about three per cent of its workforce, but expects larger headcount by end-2024.

CONSUMER AND RETAIL

Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder plans to cut three to five per cent of its global workforce.

Wayfair plans to lay off 1,650 employees, or about 13 per cent of its workforce.

U.S. department store chain Macy’s is cutting 2,350 jobs, closing five stores.

Levi Strauss & Co. is planning to slash 10-to-15 per cent of global corporate jobs.

Hershey’s restructuring plan will impact less than five per cent of its workforce.

Nike will cut about two per cent of its total workforce, or more than 1,600 jobs, as the sportswear giant looks to cut costs after flagging weaker profits this year.

Novavax is cutting about 12 per cent of workforce.

MANUFACTURING

Defence contractor Lockheed Martin is planning to cut one per cent of its jobs.

United Parcel Service plans to cut 12,000 jobs to cut costs.

NATURAL RESOURCES

U.S. miner Piedmont Lithium cuts 27 per cent of workforce in cost-cutting plan.

Canadian oil and gas pipeline firm TC Energy has laid off some of its workers as part of a previously announced plan to integrate its natural gas pipeline units.

Canada-based crude pipeline operator Enbridge said it would reduce its workforce by 650 jobs, or five per cent, in a bid to cut costs.

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RCMP end latest N.B. search regarding teenage girl who went missing in 2021

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BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.

In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.

The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.

Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.

The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”

There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Man Tasered after trespassing in Victoria school, forcing lockdown

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VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.

Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.

Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.

A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.

Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. Greens’ ex- leader Weaver thinks minority deal with NDP less likely than in 2017

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VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.

Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.

Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.

Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.

Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.

He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.

“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.

He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”

Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.

“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.

“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”

Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”

“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”

Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.

Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.

Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.

“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.

The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.

Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.

The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.

The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.

If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.

If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.

But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.

Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.

The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.

Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.

“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.

Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.

He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.

“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”

He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.

“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”

— With files from Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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