Here is a summary of the companies where jobs were created and others were lost in December 2019.
HIRINGS
The Prévost company, a bus manufacturer for more than 90 years, has obtained two orders for the manufacture of 330 buses to be delivered between 2020 and 2022. This announcement will maintain 20 jobs in Sainte-Claire (remember that 125 workers had been laid off on foot in November), to create 25 jobs at the Plattsburgh plant and 15 others at an external supplier.
A dozen new jobs will be created by early spring with the expansion of the Flo Fab plant, located in Bois-des-Filion, a leader in products for plumbing and heating contractors. This nearly $ 4 million project is more than necessary due to 50% growth in 2019.
LVL Global will invest $ 6 million to increase production by 15% and reduce its ecological footprint by recovering waste from the Ville-Marie plant. As Etienne Ricard, chief financial and administrative officer, indicates, this will allow the company to operate 7 days a week, which will allow the creation of 6 new jobs.
Mineral Resources Pelican, a company that was founded in 2007, presented a plan to develop a limestone quarry near Murdochville, in the Gaspé Peninsula. This is an investment of more than $ 40 million for the company that will create 30 new direct and indirect jobs over the next few years.
200 jobs will be created in Sherbrooke with the opening of a National Bank call center, scheduled for summer 2020. Staff recruitment will take place in the coming months and the company plans to focus on students from the University of Sherbrooke to overcome the labor shortage. Note that the financial institution already employs 225 people in Estrie.
DISMISSALS
After more than 100 years of assembly in the city of Oshawa, the General Motors plant will close its doors within a few months; more than 5,000 workers will lose their jobs. This news is in line with the restructuring started in 2019 with the closure of four factories in the United States and two in North America. The company hopes to cut costs by $ 6.5 billion by 2020.
Hélie’N Sport, a company specializing in the sale and installation of automotive parts and accessories, closed on December 13. Founded in 1978, the company employed 6 people full time. Note that in 2017, Hélie’N Sport had been bought, and the current owner could not compete with big box stores and the increase in online shopping by customers.
The leather bag and suitcase retailer Bentley will close 88 branches in the coming months, including 25 in Quebec. This wave of closings will result in over 400 layoffs. The company’s goal now is to better position itself in the retail market. An agreement with creditors was made to reduce the company’s debts, which amounted to almost $ 40 million.
Last October, we learned of the closure of the Fortress factory in Thurso. Since then, the Lauzon sawmill has been unable to restock and this has resulted in huge losses for the company. The sawmill remains open for a few days to dispose of the wood, but 113 workers will lose their jobs for an indefinite period.
The US merchant bank Morgan Stanley made a mass layoff in December. The US media has announced that the bank will cut more than 1,500 jobs to accommodate major changes to the industry imposed by online brokerage platforms, which inevitably take away market share. In Quebec, 45 people will lose their jobs in Montreal offices.