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Bell Media laid off CTV Vancouver anchors and radio hosts

Bell Media is once again gutting newsrooms with another round of layoffs, this time targetting Vancouver.

As reported by Daily Hive, several high-profile staffers at CTV Vancouver and Bell-owned radio stations were laid off. Moreover, Daily Hive shared tweets confirming the cuts from several of those who were laid off.

CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts, co-host of CTV News at Six, was among those laid off. Roberts, a Jack Webster Award-winning journalist, co-anchored the show since August 2018 alongside veteran journalist Mi-Jung Lee, and had been with the station for over a decade.

CTV Morning Live segment host and traffic reporter Luisa Alvarez was also laid off. Alvarez did traffic updates on TSN 1040 and BNN Bloomberg 1410 as well. She joined CTV Vancouver in 2019 before transitioning to CTV Morning Live the following year.

Outside of CTV Vancouver, Bell Media has let go of at least two employees at radio stations it owns in Vancouver. That includes Olivia Jones, the midday host of Move 103.5 FM. Reports indicate that Amy Beeman, the producer of 94.5 Virgin Radio’s Morning Show, was also laid off. That comes just weeks after longtime morning show host Jonny Staub left the show.

Bell Media came under fire for job cuts around the same time last year, when the company cut an estimated 250 positions in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. The move came on the heels of Bell’s successful ‘Let’s Talk Day’ in 2021.

Moreover, OpenMedia started a petition in 2021 to make Canadian telecom companies pay back wage subsidies received through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program. OpenMedia accused companies of taking the wage relief and paying it out to investors — Bell took particular ire over the Bell Media layoffs since CEWS was intended to help keep people employed.

Source: Daily Hive

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Activision Blizzard reportedly laid off Raven QA following ‘Cold War’ success

Raven Software, a studio that worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, reportedly laid off about a third of its contract quality assurance (QA) testers, or about a dozen people. However, more could follow.

Raven’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, previously reported that Cold War brought in $3 billion USD (about $3.85 billion CAD) for the company in 2020.

The news comes via reports from Kotaku and The Washington Post (via The Verge), which said team members were called into individual meetings to be told whether they’ll still have a job come January 28th. Previously, Raven’s owner Activision Blizzard had promised team members raises following a pay restructure. Unfortunately, that may still be the case — workers who keep their jobs will reportedly see a pay jump from $17 USD an hour to $18.50 an hour (about $21.83 to $23.75 CAD).

Anonymous Raven contractors said to the Post that they were told “You did nothing wrong” after being let go.

Worse, employee advocacy group ‘A Better ABK’ said on Twitter that many employees moved to Wisconsin for the job and did so without assistance from Activision Blizzard.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier shared in a tweet that some contractors he spoke with said they won’t know their status until next week. The studio’s developers reportedly learned of the layoffs via word of mouth instead of through an official announcement.

Activision Blizzard has a pattern of laying off workers amid booming business. For example, the company laid off around eight percent of its employees after CEO Bobby Kotick revealed its 2018 financial results were the best in its history. In 2021, the company laid off around 50 employees just months before Kotick received $155 million USD (about $199 million CAD) following a shareholder vote. The 50 employees that the company laid off received three months’ severance and $200 Battle.net gift cards. In 2021, Activision published Call of Duty: Vanguard, made by Sledgehammer Games — it was reportedly the second-largest game launch in 2021.

Moreover, these layoffs come as the company contends with the fallout of sexual assault allegations. Employees accused the company of not acting on abuse and sexual assault allegations. Kotick reportedly knew about the issues for years and had his own history of harassment.

Source: Kotaku, The Washington Post Via: The Verge