Fairfax Media announces major redundancies

STAFF at Fairfax Media are on strike after the company announced more than 70 jobs would be cut in an email to staff this morning.

Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood has little to smile about as he unveils the company's interim results, in Sydney. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

STAFF at Fairfax Media’s The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review will strike for 24 hours following an announcement 70 jobs would be cut at the company.

Sunday Age senior writer Jill Stark tweeted news staff would strike after holding an editorial stop work meeting. Sydney Morning Herald state political editor Sean Nicholls said the vote in favour of striking was 159 in favour and one against.

Earlier in the day an email to staff announced proposed changes that would cut 70 jobs across editorial production, lifestyle and photography departments.

The email, from Australian Publishing Media managing director Allen Williams, said the changes are part of the “continuing transformation” of the company as it tries to become more efficient.

The editorial production team will be reduced by “about” 35 full time employees in Sydney and Melbourne by December 2014, with 10 of these roles moving to newsroom editors.

New arrangements in the Life Media restructure will see 15 jobs lost as the company moves to a “more flexible structure that better suits modern journalism practices.” Around 30 photographers will also be made redundant as the company makes more use of Getty Images.

Staff members took to Twitter to express shock at the news.

Fairfax has not issued a formal statement, but a copy of Mr Allen’s email obtained by news.com.au said he expects the changes to bring the company in line with other media businesses around the world.

Media, Entertainment, Arts Alliance (MEAA) representative Christopher Warren said “the only decision the company seems capable of making is to keep cutting staff.”

“When do we reach the point of no return? Why isn’t more effort being made to protect and promote editorial quality and utilise smarter ways of working? At what point does Fairfax stop being a news organisation and merely become a commissioning agency that outsources everything it does?”

Later in the day, former New South Wales premier Barry O’Farrell quipped on Twitter:

Greg Hywood said the company will be forced to keep making tough decisions.

Fairfax Media reported net profits after tax of $193 million in their latest financial results released in February 2014.

Chief Executive and Managing director Greg Hywood said at the time it was a credit to staff resilience the company recorded their first increase in underlaying EBITDA since June 2010.

“It is these strategies that underpin a half-year result that’s starkly at odds with the conventional wisdom that traditional media companies face a bleak future simply because reductions in print advertising cannot be immediately offset by increases in digital revenue,” he said.

However he also claimed they are running the company for profit and will continue to focus on balancing revenue and cost.

Fairfax previously made 1900 staff redundant and erected paywalls on the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.