Rumours Abound About Carswell Lay-Offs

We posted about the major cuts that Thomson-Reuters announced in early December to trim almost 2 % of its North American workforce. The blogosphere has noted the significant cuts made to Eagan’s library liaisons.

But we’ve seen no formal announcement or confirmation of the rumours of seventy five Carswell staff being let go from Thomson-Reuters’ Canadian legal operation, that was initiated just before Christmas. The rumours suggest that the cuts include twenty-five in the legal editorial group and that the downsizing may still be ongoing.

Funny that the Australians reported the news about the Canadian lay-offs while there’s been silence in Canada.

So six questions:

Did the lay-offs happen?

Is Carswell sustaining larger lay-offs proportionately than other Thomson-Reuters units involved in legal publishing: is 75 simply 2% of the Carswell workforce? Or more?

Is the silence on what’s happening normal with downsizing of this size?

Did the economic downturn hit Thomson-Reuter’s Canadian legal publishing sales more than other markets?

If so, what are the implications for Thomson-Reuter’s Canadian legal publishing programme and customer service?

What are the larger implications for legal information in Canada?