Staffing levels at the CWB are likely to fall to fewer than 100 employees by the time the new organization has been fully downsized.
CWB officials said last week that staff numbers at the grain marketing agency have already been reduced to 318 people through a combination of layoffs and voluntary departures.
Twelve months ago, the CWB had about 430 employees on its payroll.
“As you know, we’re in the process of restructuring the organization to match the new role and the new scope and we … will be a significantly smaller company,” said media relations manager Maureen Fitzhenry.
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“That downsizing is going to continue.”
The CWB has issued layoff notices to about 70 people since the federal government passed Bill C-18 late last year.
Roughly 40 others have left voluntarily.
The CWB did not provide details about severance costs, buy-outs, early retirement packages or other forms of employee compensation.
So far, layoff notices have been limited to Winnipeg employees.
The company will keep its foreign sales offices in Beijing and Tokyo.
It is still unclear how CWB operations outside of Winnipeg will be affected, including a recently-opened grain quality lab in Saskatoon.
Fitzhenry said additional layoffs notices will be issued throughout the summer.
The CWB is planning to enter the 2012-13 crop as a leaner, more efficient operation.
“(When) we talk about restructuring the organization at this point, we’re talking about restructuring it to hit the ground running on Aug. 1,” she said.
The company will continue to adjust staff numbers after Aug. 1 as its role in Western Canada’s new grain marketing environment becomes clearer.
The agency could have as few as 80 or 90 employees by the time the CWB is preparing to be commercialized in 2017, CWB officials suggested last week.
