Canada's Shaw Communication to temporarily lay off about 10% of workforce

(Reuters) - Shaw Communications <SJRb.TO> said on Tuesday it would temporarily lay off about 10% of its workforce, or about 1,000 employees, as the Canadian telecom services provider looks to weather the uncertain business conditions driven by the coronavirus crisis.

Government measures to limit the spread of the virus have triggered dramatic shortages or stoppages of work in specific areas of its business, the company said in a statement.

It said the temporary layoffs will begin on April 16, and largely include employees working in retail and sales roles.

"We look forward to welcoming them back when business conditions improve," President Paul McAleese said.

Companies across different sectors have furloughed employees, suspended share buybacks and withdrew outlook due to the economic uncertainties brought on by the virus outbreak, which has killed over 120,000 people across the world.

Shaw had about 10,000 employees, according to its 2019 annual report http://shaw.ca/uploadedFiles/Corporate/Investors/Financial_Reports/2019-annual-report.pdf .

It reported its second-quarter results last week and withdrew its previously issued guidance for fiscal 2020.

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shinjini Ganguli)