Canada's Yellow Pages to cut about 500 jobs

Yellow Pages

16/01/2018 13:34

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada's Yellow Pages Ltd  Y.TO , once 
well-known for its thick print directories, said on Tuesday it 
would fire about 500 employees to cut costs and turn around its 
digital advertising platform. 
    The 500 positions - about 18 percent of the Montreal-based 
company's workforce -  will impact its employees across Canada 
and all functions, the company said.  
    Yellow Pages, which is expected to report fourth quarter 
results on Feb 8, said it will book a restructuring charge of 
about C$17 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.  
    The company has been trying to make inroads in the digital 
advertising business, an area dominated by giants such as Google 
and Facebook, and had first announced a restructuring plan about 
six years ago. 
    Digital revenue for the Canadian company, which accounts for 
about 70 percent of the company's overall business, fell 4.2 
percent in the quarter ended September 30. Customer count fell 
about 4 percent over the last year.  
    "Decisions that materially impact our employees are 
difficult but absolutely critical to securing the near-term 
health of the business while we build a great company that 
provides excellent opportunities in the future," chief executive 
David Eckert, who took charge in September, said in a statement. 
 
 (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Arun Koyyur) 
 ((Nivedita.Bhattacharjee@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780 
Ext: 1524; Reuters Messaging: 
nivedita.bhattacharjee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: YELLOW PAGES REDUNDANCIES/