People walk by a Rogers store in downtown Vancouver in April. Rogers did not confirm the number of outsourced employees affected by its decision to end the contract with Foundever.Isabella Falsetti/The Globe and Mail
Rogers has ended its contract with an external customer-service firm, resulting in hundreds of job losses as the telecom company embraces digital tools, according to a Toronto-based employment law firm.
“We’ve been hearing from dozens of Foundever employees who say they’re among roughly 900 people caught up in a major round of layoffs, reportedly sparked by Rogers pulling its contract and shifting to AI-powered chat support,” said Lior Samfiru, employment lawyer and co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
He said it is a mix of both short- and long-serving staff who are now out of a job.
All of the employees working for Rogers through the firm were based in Canada. Foundever employs more than 3,500 people across Canada, including employees in customer-service, back-office support, sales and retention, and technical support, according to its website.
“As customers increasingly use digital tools and self-services, we’ve made some changes to our vendor mix. Similar to other providers, we continue to serve our customers across the country using our internal team and third-party partners,” said a statement by Rogers spokesperson Zac Carreiro.
Rogers did not confirm the number of employees affected as it ended its contract with Foundever.
Mr. Carreiro said there was “no impact” to the company’s internal customer-service team.
Earlier this year, Rogers laid off customer-service staff related to its online chat option in multiple provinces, citing a reduction in demand for online chat services. The company has launched “Anna,” a virtual chat bot used to assist customers.
Mr. Samfiru said his firm is seeing a growing number of companies across Canada “leaning on automation to cut costs.”
In 2023, following its acquisition of Shaw, Rogers said it was committing to a 100-per-cent Canada-based customer-service work force, and said it planned to hire additional agents in the country.
In a statement, Mr. Carreiro said “the majority of agents” are based in Canada. That indicates Rogers has stepped back from its domestic workforce commitment.
Company figures suggest that more than 2,000 Rogers employees had their jobs cut or left the company in 2024, and 3,000 Rogers or Shaw employees left in 2023, the year the merger took place.
Andrew Monkhouse, managing partner of Monkhouse Law Employment Lawyers, confirmed that his firm has also recently been contacted by Foundever employees.