The Barclay brothers-owned papers are said to be set to combine the two broadsheets' picture desks, business desks and magazines in an attempt to slash costs.
Combining the editorial desks of two sister newspapers is always unpopular in the newspaper publishing world, amid concern that it will result in similar stories appearing in both titles.
Of the UK's national newspapers, only The Independent has implemented this strategy.
The move follows a disappointing year for the Scottish company. Last year, it lost £1.3m after it spent £5m on a relaunch of the titles, which was overseen by its publisher Andrew Neil, the former Sunday Times editor.
The company is believed to have reined in its losses since its full-year results were announced in November, but it is still thought to be struggling against the advertising downturn.
This has been compounded by a 10% slide in circulation to below 70,178 at The Scotsman and 78,064 on the Sunday paper.
News of the restructuring was announced to staff yesterday by the company's managing editor John McGurck and its financial director Gordon Affleck, following a long meeting with Neil on Monday.
The Scotsman's editor Iain Martin and its managing director Stephen Walker, are both believed to be on holiday.
The shake-up is expected to see an executive business editor appointed to oversee a business editor on each newspaper and a pool of writers. However, there are fears that this could spell the end for the Scotsman's standalone business section, which has been under review.
A new division to concentrate on supplements and special projects is being set up.
There is also thought to be a plan for The Business, also owned by the Barclays, to supply stories to the two titles. The Business itself has suffered a string of redundancies following its move into the Press Association's headquarters.
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