The journalists' union has slammed News Limited's decision to lay off more than 100 staff less than a week after announcing a massive restructure as “a poor start” to the process.
Reports from media outlets including News Limited's own national masthead The Australian indicate that around 100 jobs based on the east coast have been lost, including approximately 70 roles in the media giant's digital divisions. These lay-offs have come despite Kim Williams' announcement the company would be focusing more on digital.
“Last week the company revealed it was about to embark on a carefully thought-through restructuring process,” acting federal secretary of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) Paul Murphy said. “But ... its digital staff are learning that they are being made redundant at a time when they should have felt assured they would play a vital role in the future of the News Limited business.
“It’s clear the restructure could mean the loss of a very large number of jobs. Now, suddenly, before the restructure has even properly begun, a small group of employees have been targeted for redundancy in advance of everything else the company intends to do,” Murphy said.
“This is a bad start. News Limited must not pick-off small groups of employees like this. Where is the fairness in a process like that? Under these circumstances how can News Limited staff make a rational decision about their futures? What’s to say these people with their in-demand skills won’t be needed by the company in 12 months’ time?”
The MEAA is meeting with News Limited this week to discuss how the restructure and resulting redundancies will unfold.
“The changes announced last week outlined how the business was investing and transforming to meet the needs of our customers,” a News Limited spokesperson told AdNews. “We can confirm that as part of rolling out our new operating model to build our business, we yesterday told affected people we are making a range of roles redundant across the business. Positions are also being retired through natural attrition.”
It has yet to be announced how many jobs will be lost at News Limited as 19 current divisions are rolled into only five, but some reports place numbers as high as 1,500.
Heads began to roll the morning after Williams' televised announcement, with one News Limited source telling AdNews: “The blood-letting at News Limited has started this morning and quite ferociously.”
Follow @AdNews on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at alexandraroach@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.