I think CBC's article on the layoffs yesterday included the real problem:

"The source of this is a dividend policy that has really become out of whack," added Horan.

BCE will now pay a quarterly dividend of 99.75 cents per common share, up from 96.75 cents per share, the company said Thursday. Dividends are a portion of earnings that companies pay out to their shareholders, usually every quarter.

"Typically, the companies pay about 50 per cent of their earnings in dividends, and they're up to about 130 per cent right now of their earnings. So I think that's pressuring the company to produce more free cash flow."

It's technically a Canadian Press article, but the CTV copy linked here yesterday didn't have that part.