Telus Cuts 3,300 Jobs Amid Industry Turbulence as CEO Compensation Dips Slightly

Vancouver, B.C. — Telus Corp. trimmed 3,300 net jobs in 2024, marking its second consecutive year of workforce reductions as Canada’s telecom giants continue to navigate fierce industry headwinds. The 10% drop in Telus’s staff count reflects deep shifts driven by digital transformation, AI advancements, and ongoing regulatory and economic challenges.
The company’s latest annual report reveals that the job cuts, which largely affected management-level positions, reduced the company’s total employee base to 27,800. Though the report did not specify how many exits were layoffs versus buyouts or resignations, spokesperson Liz Sauvé cited tech-driven efficiencies and strategic realignment as the main factors behind the move.
“This is part of an ongoing response to both industry disruption and technological evolution,” said Sauvé. In February, Telus offered buyouts to 700 unionized workers, providing what it described as “financially generous voluntary separation packages.”
While thousands of jobs were eliminated in its core operations, Telus also saw expansion elsewhere. Its global outsourcing and digital services arm, Telus International, added 3,700 jobs in response to rising demand for digital customer experience solutions. Telus owns a 56% economic stake in the subsidiary, which now employs 79,000 people worldwide.
But even Telus International has faced turbulence. Last week, up to 2,000 employees at a content moderation centre in Barcelona were sent home after Meta Platforms terminated its contract. The affected staff were placed on leave with full pay while severance discussions continue with local unions.
Across Canada’s telecom sector, 2024 was marked by a pullback in jobs and profits. Bell Canada cut 4,800 positions and later offered buyouts to 1,200 more. Rogers Communications trimmed 2,000 roles following previous cuts. Heightened competition, a sluggish economy, and reduced immigration have all pressured growth prospects.
Despite the layoffs and a 17% drop in share value, Telus posted the best relative performance of the big three telecoms in 2024. Including dividends, shareholder losses were 11.5%, compared to Bell’s 30% and Rogers’s 26.1%. Telus also maintained the most “buy” recommendations from analysts heading into 2025.
CEO Darren Entwistle, now the highest-paid executive among the trio, earned $20.6 million in 2024—slightly less than the $21 million he made in 2023. While his base salary remained $1.6 million, bonuses and share awards were slightly lower. His $1.1-million performance bonus was down 10% year over year.
Telus emphasized that Entwistle takes his entire salary in company shares and owns stock worth 10 times his salary—well above the typical executive standard. “This underscores his alignment with shareholder interests,” said Sauvé.
The company’s proxy circular noted the importance of retaining Entwistle during a critical growth period that includes Telus’s expansion in health and agriculture. Succession planning is underway, with internal leadership development actively progressing.
As Telus leans deeper into digital innovation and international service delivery, it faces the same dilemma shared across the sector: how to balance transformation with talent retention and workforce stability in a rapidly evolving landscape.