FT to shed 51 journalists in merger of print and website

The Financial Times will make 51 people redundant in its newsroom, it announced Tuesday, drawing strong condemnation from the National Union of Journalists, which insisted it would oppose any compulsory job losses. The move comes as the FT merges its online and print operations to create what it called ‘one of the most integrated multi-media newsrooms in the world’. The newspaper, owned by international publisher Pearson, said redundancies would be across the newsroom, including reporters and subeditors. It said it had launched a 30-day consultation with the NUJ and would look for voluntary redundancies. But in an email sent to his 500 editorial staff, FT editor Lionel Barber said there could be compulsory job cuts if the voluntary programme was unsuccessful. Barber’s announcement was said to have been very badly received by FT staff, although a spokeswoman for the paper said people had known for some time it was coming. Some 46 out of the 51 cuts will be in London. Analysts estimated the cuts could cost the FT about GBP 2m (EUR 2.9m), but said they would increase operating margins at the paper, which have fallen from a high of about 27 per cent in 2000 to just 1 per cent last year. (Media Guardian,July 12, 2006)

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