NZZ closes printing plant in Schlieren
The NZZ Media Group is discontinuing printing operations at its Schlieren site. The reason is the progressive replacement of printed newspapers by digital offerings. 125 jobs are affected.
The discontinuation of printing operations at the Schlieren site, which is subject to consultation with employee representatives, puts 125 of the 184 jobs at risk. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the NZZ am Sonntag are to be printed at Tamedia's Zurich printing center in the future. The NZZ and Tamedia have negotiated a long-term binding contract to this effect. Third-party orders are to be produced essentially at the NZZ Media Group's Winkeln SG printing center - subject to the customers' consent.
The Swiss market for newspaper printing has considerable overcapacity, the statement continued. Falling print runs for in-house products have meant that newspaper printers are increasingly dependent on orders from third-party customers. However, the prices for these orders have come under strong pressure due to the overcapacity. This development has also affected the Schlieren printing center, whose capacity was planned in the 1990s at the height of the newspaper boom. Now, replacement investments in the double-digit millions are pending, which cannot be justified economically against the background of declining circulations and the erosion of margins for third-party orders.
"Our growth potential lies primarily in the digital market," Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group, commented on the closure in a statement. Since 2008, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung's print circulation has fallen by 36,000 copies. Of that, about 18,000 could be rebuilt as digital circulation. "In order to secure our future, we are consistently investing in the broadening of our product range in the online and mobile sectors. We very much regret that this leads to job cuts in the print area. We have great understanding for the situation of the employees affected and will work closely with the employee representatives to mitigate the consequences of this decision," emphasizes Dengler.
The employee representatives of the NZZ Media Group now have until mid-January to comment on the management's intended measures and to draw up proposals on how layoffs can be avoided.
