Postmedia Network will be introducing new cost-cutting measures including cutting 11% of editorial staff from titles across Canada, according to CWA Canada union president Martin O’Hanlon, which represents some of the media company’s journalists.
The cuts were announced in an internal town hall on Tuesday, following a company memo last week that said that an unspecified number of roles will be cut over the coming months through layoffs or by not filling vacancies.
Company filings show that since 2015, Postmedia has shrunk its workforce by more than half to just 2,098 as of August last year.
O’Hanlon expects that because the smaller outlets are already operating with as few as four people on staff, the new round of layoffs will primarily impact the media company’s bigger operations. Postmedia owns about 130 titles including the National Post, Vancouver Sun, and Calgary Herald.
Postmedia has been hit with the “perfect storm,” president and CEO Andrew MacLeod told employees last week, referring to falling revenue and rising costs due to inflation. The company’s advertising and circulation revenues continued to decline while costs ballooned in its most recent quarter. The company reported a $15.9 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $4.4 million in the same period the year before.
“We need to have our costs be more in balance with the revenue environment that we find ourselves in,” he added.
A wave of cost-cutting measures will be implemented across the company. Last week, it announced that it will be moving 12 Alberta community newspapers to a digital-only format beginning at the end of February. A building in Saskatoon will also be sold, while offices in Regina will be sublet. All Saskatchewan-based employees will permanently work remotely.
Ahead of these changes, Postmedia announced last week that it sold the Calgary Herald building to U-Haul Co for $17.25 million.
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