Olymel cuts 177 jobs

Nov 01, 2022

The cuts mostly affect administrative positions in Quebec

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A Canadian food processing company has reduced its workforce by 177 people.

Olymel, which employs about 15,000 people according to its website, announced its reorganization in an Oct. 18 press release.

Of the 177 affected positions, 57 employees received layoff notices while the other 120 are currently vacant.

Olymel employs Canadians in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Most of the cuts affect administrative employees in Quebec and are meant to reduce overlap.

“The decision was made after carefully considering the effectiveness and redundancy of the administrative support functions within the organization,” the company said in its release.

Other factors played into the decision too.

The COVID-19 pandemic, a labour shortage, supply chain disruptions and inflation all contributed to this decision, said Yanick Gervais, president and CEO of Olymel.

“After careful analysis, the difficult decision to significantly reduce our management staff is an answer to the need to adapt to unpredictable market conditions and to better position the company for the future,” he said in the Oct. 18 release. “On behalf of all my colleagues, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to each of the managers affected by this decision for their service to the company over the years. Olymel will do everything possible to ensure that these employees are supported as they continue their careers.”

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

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