Evening Standard to cull a third of its workforce
The Evening Standard is preparing to cut around a third of its staff, as the coronavirus pandemic bites on advertising revenue.
Around 70 journalists — which amounts to half the paper’s editorial staff — will be affected in the cuts which encompass a total of 115 roles, the Guardian first reported.
Circulation of the free print paper is also set to be reduced, after it was halved in March as commuters stopped going to offices and using public transport during lockdown.
A spokesperson for the Evening Standard said the changes “reflect the evolution of the Standard’s business priorities”.
The newspaper group already halted print production of its ES Magazine until September. It has been operating in the red for a number of years, reporting an £11.6m pre-tax loss in 2019.
In April the Evening Standard’s circulation fell to 423,000, down from more than 700,000 the previous month. It imposed a 20 per cent pay cut on staff, and furloughed others.
It said last year it was considering job cuts as it transitioned towards a digital-first strategy and merged its online and print desks, though numbers were not confirmed.
“The proposed restructuring underway at the Evening Standard is a result of the difficult market conditions that have affected the entire media industry over recent times; these challenging conditions have been further accentuated by Covid-19,” the spokesperson added.
“Under the new management team the Evening Standard will be focused on building its digital and mobile offering alongside print, whilst also developing a live events business with other new initiatives to be announced.”
Its top executives recently completed a reshuffle, moving former chancellor George Osborne to editor-in-chief of the group while Emily Sheffield took over as editor of the paper.
It also appointed veteran media executive Charles Yardley as its new chief executive in June, after Mike Soutar stepped down following just six months in the role.
Other news outlets have also been severely hit by the news crisis, amounting to almost a thousand jobs lost across publications such as the BBC and the Guardian.