Manulife Financial Corp. has announced that it will cut 700 jobs in Canada over the next 18 months as it moves to digitize and combine its operations. The company said the cuts will come through voluntary exits and natural attrition.
Manulife, a multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, currently employs more than 13,000 people in Canada, having added about 2,000 people over the past five years. Manulife said it employs 35,000 people globally. In addition to the announcement of job cuts, the company also said it plans to consolidate two separate locations into one Canadian headquarters based in Waterloo, Ontario.
Shares of Manulife Financial rose five cents to close at $24.89 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Thursday. On May 2, the company reported first-quarter earnings that topped market expectations. The company reported core earnings of 64 cents per share. The average analyst estimate was for a profit of 62 cents a share.
Manulife said its core earnings for the quarter came in at $1.3 billion, an increase of $202 million, with the firm citing strong growth in Asia along with its global wealth and asset management businesses for the increase.
