News

Fairfax Media has announced its proposal to make up to 45 workers redundant and outsource their work to a creative advertising studio in India. Ten new production coordinator positions would be created as part of the new structure.

The workers currently make up straightforward or day-to-day advertisements, often from templates, for insertion in metro and suburban papers owned by Fairfax Media in New Zealand. The cuts in staffing will be made throughout the country.

TVNZ reported Allen Williams, chief executive Fairfax New Zealand, saying, “The company is considering outsourcing routine advertising make-up across its newspaper sites nationally.” He would not be drawn on expected job losses, adding that readers and advertisers would not be adversely affected if changes were made as a result of the reviews. He contended that trading conditions were difficult and the company had to respond to that.

In a note to staff, he said, “'The strategic drive was to gain efficiencies in production/printing processes and to reinvest in the parts of Fairfax that will determine the future success of the company. We propose to retain a core design team at each of the current production hubs to allow the company to concentrate and develop the core competency of advertising design. This is in tune with Fairfax Media's vision and mission:- to be a company that creates high-value, premium journalism and content for print, online, mobile and beyond.

‘It's extremely disappointing that Fairfax has chosen to export these highly skilled jobs,' says EPMU senior national industry officer Paul Tolich. ‘At a time when there is high unemployment and insecurity, it's the last thing these workers and their families need.'

‘We know that the newspaper industry is facing challenges, and that they're looking to reduce costs and grow revenue. But local advertising relies on workers spending in their local communities. How can they spend when they don't have jobs?'

In New Zealand Fairfax owns The Dominion Post and The Press newspapers, two Sunday papers, daily regional newspapers such as the Waikato Times, Nelson Mail and Southland Times, and more than 60 community newspapers. The company cut 82 jobs in May by contracting the sub-editing work on its major metro newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne to Pagemasters, a division of Australian Associated Press. .