Sears Canada is cutting 1,600 jobs in Canada this year including the closing of its call centre in Belleville which currently employs 527 people. An agreement has been signed with IBM to outsource internal work which will eliminate another 1,345 jobs. Anyone wondering about that shocking figure of 39,000 lost jobs in Ontario can begin to see evidence of it here. The economy has not recovered and the retail malaise is seen in the Best Buy figures. That company said today that intense competition and weak traffic in December led to disappointing results. Some analysts wonder what’s left for Sears as their outlets dwindle and contact with consumers seems more and more tenuous.
