Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada's Yellow Pages Ltd Y.TO , once well-known for its thick print directories, said on Tuesday it would fire about 500 employees to cut costs and turn around its digital advertising platform.
The 500 positions - about 18 percent of the Montreal-based company's workforce - will impact its employees across Canada and all functions, the company said.
Yellow Pages, which is expected to report fourth quarter results on Feb 8, said it will book a restructuring charge of about C$17 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.
The company has been trying to make inroads in the digital advertising business, an area dominated by giants such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and had first announced a restructuring plan about six years ago.
Digital revenue for the Canadian company, which accounts for about 70 percent of the company's overall business, fell 4.2 percent in the quarter ended September 30. Customer count fell about 4 percent over the last year.
"Decisions that materially impact our employees are difficult but absolutely critical to securing the near-term health of the business while we build a great company that provides excellent opportunities in the future," chief executive David Eckert, who took charge in September, said in a statement.