NZZ Media Group to cut costs and lay off staff
The NZZ Media Group wants to save money - among other things by cutting staff in the editorial offices as well. What it calls a "strategy sharpening" envisages a company-wide cost reduction of around 13 million Swiss francs, or just under 10 percent. A medium-term job reduction of around five percent is also planned.
Some of these job cuts will be made through natural attrition, and there will also be isolated redundancies, according to a statement issued by the NZZ Media Group on Thursday evening. Most of the cuts will be made in marketing, sales, services, printing and logistics. The contribution of the editorial staff is less than 30 percent.
The long-term goal is 400,000 paid subscribers. We are already doing well in the user market, with over 187,000 subscribers across all titles. We expect to reach the target of 200,000 subscribers set for 2022," Felix Graf, CEO of the NZZ Media Group, is quoted as saying.
According to the NZZ Media Group, "the digital product portfolio" will be further "sharpened. Among other things, the NZZ, the NZZ on Sunday, NZZ Bellevue and other offerings integrated via an umbrella brand portal, and the paywall will be further developed. In Germany, reporting and the product range will be expanded.
"Focus on the essentials"
"With the redesign of the print edition. NZZ - on weekdays on 32 editorial pages - we achieve the concentration on the essentials desired by many customers," is NZZEditor-in-Chief Eric Gujer is quoted as saying. He adds: "We are also saving costs while maintaining a high level of journalistic quality.
Another component of the "strategy sharpening" is closer cooperation between the NZZ and the NZZ on Sunday is planned. In the future, synergies will be increasingly used where it makes sense from a journalistic and organizational point of view.
The two titles are to retain their different journalistic identities, independence and positioning; accordingly, there will continue to be two independent editors-in-chief. (SDA)
