Fairfax NZ ‘disestablishing’ jobs

According to The New Zealand Herald, 180 roles – a quarter of Fairfax’s 700 editorial positions – are set to be “disestablished”.

The company reportedly held meetings with its staff yesterday, where 160 people were advised that they would have to reapply for their jobs.

The latest cull is part of a massive restructuring at Fairfax, which is particularly dominating the market south Taupo where titles include the Sunday Star-Times, Dominion Post, Waikato Times and the Press.

It was announced in a statement after yesterday’s meetings that the new structure would be more efficient – but Fairfax avoided confirming the number of positions to go.

Sinead Boucher, group executive editor at Fairfax Media, said that the aim of the restructure was to create a digital focused “Modern Newsroom”.

“The proposal is not about reducing headcount,” she said. “We are boosting our reporting capability in small and large communities, and by streamlining our print-focused production processes, increasing the ratio of content creators from just over half to almost two thirds.”

“We're actually proposing to boost the number of reporters across the country through the new structure, and there is no headcount reduction overall,” said Fairfax spokeswoman Emma Carter.
 
Fairfax’s Australian workforce has also been hit by cuts. Last week, the Australian Financial Review reported that editorial staff at Fairfax’s Aussie publications The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald were expecting to undergo a round of layoffs.

Senior editorial changes at the New Zealand Herald include the imminent departure of editor in chief Tim Murphy.