Major Company With Mississauga Facilities Set to Cut 700 Jobs

A well-known company with facilities in Mississauga recently announced that it will be eliminating approximately 700 positions through what the company is calling a "voluntary exit program and natural attrition."

Recently, Manulife Financial Corp today announced that it's planning to transform its Canadian business through a number of changes, including launching a program to digitize and consolidate a number of its back-office functions.

Manulife says this plan will reduce the company's Canadian workforce by about 700 roles over the next 18 months.

"People have embraced technology in most aspects of life, and they expect their financial services provider to do the same, delivering simple, intuitive and personalized products and services that meet their needs. Our industry has not kept pace with this change," said Michael Doughty, president and CEO, Manulife Canada," in a news release.

"As a result, we are transforming our business to become a customer-centric market leader, which includes a focus on digital innovation and operational efficiency to ensure we remain competitive and make it easier for customers to do business with us."

Manulife also said it plans to consolidate its Canadian headquarters into one location in Waterloo. It used to operate two.

The company says it still remains "fully committed" to Kitchener-Waterloo, as well as its major operating locations in Halifax, Toronto, Oakville and Montreal.

Manulife employs about 35,000 people globally, including more than 13,000 in Canada.

Manulife says it has increased its workforce in Canada by about 2,000 in the last five years.

Expanding digital capabilities, reorienting customer experience focus and growing the business

"We expect the plans we're announcing today will have a significant positive impact on our business, simultaneously improving customer experience, reducing costs to make us more competitive, and enhancing our workforce to ensure we can win in a world of rapidly changing customer expectations," Doughty said.