Hundreds of people face impending layoffs as Convergys announced it is cutting 500 call centre jobs in Winnipeg.
The layoffs are the latest in series of cuts in Manitoba that has seen hundreds of jobs eliminated at New Flyer Industries, along with more than a 100 people laid off at DeFehr Furniture. On Tuesday, Tembec announced it hopes to sell its paper mill, leaving hundreds of employees in Pine Falls in limbo there.
Graham Starmer, president of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce says the job losses are the result of the worldwide recession. He says it's possible there could be more job cuts and believes it may be next spring before there is an upturn.
Dennis Lane is one of the employees getting laid off from Convergys.
"It's going to hurt. But you know it's one of those things in life. All good things come to an end," says Lane.
Convergys says the cuts will start later this month and will run through until March.
Starmer says some companies are currently revisiting business plans.
"I think we have to prepare both technologically and efficiency-wise in some of these industries to see whether they have a future," says Starmer.
The province says it's investing millions to train workers for the aerospace industry and officials say they will try and help people adapt to the changing economic environment.
The province says hydro, mining, financial services and construction are industries that continue to do well in Manitoba.
The provincial Tories, meanwhile, are calling on the provincial government to create an economic action plan. They say they're not impressed with the government's efforts.
- with a report from CTV's Jon Hendricks
