GNM falls short in voluntary redundancy scheme

Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of the Guardian and Observer, has accepted around 30 editorial applications for voluntary redundancy, significantly less than the 70 to 100 it had earmarked when it opened the scheme in July.

The Guardian: GNM title
The Guardian: GNM title

GNM re-opened its voluntary redundancy programme in July, in an effort to alleviate losses from the national newspaper publisher, which were in the region of £40m in the year ending March 2012.

GNM had hoped to cut between 70 and 100 staff by voluntary redundancies by September this year, in an effort to reach £7m editorial annual savings.

GNM executives have met with National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to discuss how to now to meet its earmarked cost savings, given the shortfall in the number.

Barry Fitzpatrick, deputy general secretary, NUJ, said: "There have been less than 35 positive redundancy applications, much less than the numbers we know [GNM] is seeking.

"Our position is no different than before. We do not expect this to be resolved by compulsory redundancies."

A spokesperson for GNM said: "we have accepted around 30 applications for voluntary redundancy from our editorial team and are now working with the NUJ to discuss how the further necessary savings can be reached."

Market Reports

Get unprecedented new-business intelligence with access to 北京赛车pk10’s new Market Reports.

Find out more

Enjoying 北京赛车pk10’s content?

 Get unlimited access to 北京赛车pk10’s premium content for your whole company with a corporate licence.

Upgrade access

Looking for a new job?

Get the latest creative jobs in advertising, media, marketing and digital delivered directly to your inbox each day.

Create an alert now

Partner content