(Montreal) Quebec did not escape the difficulties of the Canadian banking sector in November. The ax fell a third time at Mouvement Desjardins while Manulife also laid off employees.
Desjardins Group laid off around thirty employees from two funds, in Quebec and Sherbrooke. Manulife, for its part, laid off 40 employees in Montreal.
At Desjardins, the announcement was made to employees in mid-November and it will be effective in January. The Caisse Desjardins du Nord de Sherbrooke is losing 15 employees and the Caisse Desjardins du personnel municipal located in Quebec is laying off 12 workers.
Desjardins Group confirmed that these layoffs are in addition to the 400 layoffs announced in mid-October in Montreal and Lévis. “These difficult decisions were taken after reflection by these funds on their internal structure,” replies spokesperson Jean-Benoît Turcotti. The objective is not to eliminate positions, but rather to ensure that the needs of members and clients are met. »
In June, the cooperative also laid off 176 people in Montreal. Several other Canadian financial institutions have also made layoffs in recent months.
In mid-November, President and CEO Guy Cormier explained in an interview that the June and October announcements were attributable to the economic slowdown. “An economic slowdown may have an impact on our costs, our provisions and loan losses. So, of course we look at the whole operation. You have to be really vigilant. We must rigorously manage our costs. »
With attrition, however, Desjardins has a certain “flexibility” to avoid job losses. Between 3,000 to 4,000 of its 55,000 employees leave the company each year to retire or take on new challenges.
The cooperative continues to recruit in certain sectors, added Mr. Cormier. “In security, in artificial intelligence, in technology, our call centers, I am thinking of the growth at the level of our insurance companies, there are places currently where we are stable or increasing. Then, there are other places where we simply readjust. »
Manulife also laid off 40 people at its Montreal offices, also in November, according to a layoff notice sent to the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity.
The insurer announced in mid-November that it would cut 250 jobs at its Manulife Investment Management subsidiary across its global operations. A company spokesperson clarified that its other subsidiaries are not affected by the announcement.
The context is difficult for the job market in the Canadian financial sector. Last week, TD Bank announced it would lay off 3% of its workforce, representing nearly 3,100 employees. The same day, CIBC announced that it was taking a charge of $114 million to its results to reflect the fact that it had reduced its workforce by 5%, or 2,300 jobs, during the year.
For the moment, the management of the National Bank, a significant part of whose activities are in Quebec, seems to believe that resignations and retirements will be sufficient to avoid layoffs over the next 12 months.
Its head of finance, Marie Chantal Gingras, mentioned last Friday that she did not anticipate any restructuring charges for the 2024 financial year ending October 31. During major layoffs, listed companies include restructuring charges in their results to take into account severance pay.
“We have been very clear: a charge is not something we are considering,” she assured during a conference with financial analysts. Now that we’re entering fiscal 2024, we’re still in the same mindset. »