The City of Ottawa cut 177 jobs in the second round of reorganization for the city last week.
The first cut happened in July, bringing the city’s senior management team from 21 people to nine. According to city manager Steve Kanellakos, 75 managers and 102 unionized employees were given notice.
Some of the unionized employees may have the chance to find placements through a collective agreement process.
The job losses affect professionals significantly. Sixty employees from the Civic Institute of Professional Personnel have been laid off. This means a third of the 177 layoffs came from this department.
Many of these positions, Kanellakos said, were administrative roles hired by individuals rather than whole departments. He said he’s making sure each department will have only 23 support staff moving forward.
The cuts will reportedly save the city $14 million a year. Kanellakos said city council has given him directives to fix the city’s challenges with budget deficits.
In his message to the city staff, Kanellakos wrote he acknowledged their long-lasting work, and it will take time for the organization to settle into a new rhythm.
He has also said the period of instability is over as these job losses are to be the last of the reorganization.