In a statement published yesterday (23 January), Mediahuis Ireland said it is seeking a reduction in staffing levels of approximately 10% across its publishing organisation. It had previously initiated a similar programme in March 2023.
It said savings from the latest round of voluntary redundancies would allow the business to invest in new products, target new audiences, and make its brands more resilient and more customer-oriented for readers and advertisers alike.
The company said that, over the last five years, the fundamental nature of the company has changed from a newspaper business to a media organisation which is managing both print and digital.
“Our two traditional revenue streams, single copy sales and print advertising, are still our most important, but both are under pressure. Certainly, they are being replaced by revenues from digital subscribers and digital advertising, but at a slower pace,” it stated.
“Mediahuis Group estimates that this year 70% of our revenue will come from print and 30% from digital, but by 2030 we foresee that it will be a 30-70 ratio of print-digital.
“Our digital investment continues apace, with growth in podcasting and local news in particular, but simultaneously with this we need to manage our traditional cost base. Our organisational size and skillset needs to change to adapt to this new revenue base.
“To remain a successful news organisation into the future and continue to play a central role in journalism on the island of Ireland, we need to adapt to the landscape in which we are functioning and to the changing needs of our customers.”
Chief executive Peter Vandermeersch commented: “Journalism is the absolute core of our business, but all over the world, media companies are struggling with the same dilemma – how to generate sufficient revenues to finance our ambition to produce excellent journalism.
“I am convinced that our strategy is the right one: to restructure our business to make this a leaner, more streamlined news organisation with the most efficient processes and systems possible, while continuing to produce the highest quality journalism and diversifying our revenues to build a sustainable future for our company.”
The Irish Independent reported that Mediahuis employs around 549 staff in its publishing division on the island of Ireland, with titles including the Irish Independent, Sunday World, and Belfast Telegraph, as well as regional newspapers including The Kerryman and Wexford People. 338 of these staff reportedly work in journalism.
Separately, parent company Mediahuis, based in Belgium, revealed last week that it has now acquired the remaining 30% stake in German publisher Medienhaus Aachen.
At the beginning of 2022, it had acquired 70% of the shares in Medienhaus Aachen from the founding families of newspaper Aachener Zeitung, taking it into the German newspaper market for the first time.
The remaining 30% were held by Rheinische Post Mediengruppe, which has now sold its shares to Mediahuis. With this transaction, Medienhuis Aachen is now fully owned by Mediahuis.
Mediahuis was founded in 2013 and the group now has around 4,600 employees and an annual turnover of more than €1bn (£855m).
