Globe aims to cut 40 jobs as revenue sinks
Layoffs might ensue if not enough go freely
• With print circulation in decline and digital subscriptions not able to make up the revenue gap, The Globe and Mail is asking staff to take voluntary buyouts in a bid to cut costs.
Globe CEO Phillip Crawley informed employees of the offers at an all-staff town hall Thursday afternoon. Crawley told staff the paper is aiming to find 40 employees across the company who will agree to voluntary severance packages and would pursue layoffs if necessary, which he confirmed in a memo sent out later in the day.
The newspaper has about 650 staff, and the packages are being offered to unionized and non- unionized employees with the hope that the downsizing will be completed by November. The Globe says a recent threeyear plan to reduce expenses saved $ 25 million through cost- cutting measures, including the renegotiation of its print plant contract with Transcontinental Inc.
This marks the third time since 2013 that the newspaper has looked to slash its payroll significantly.
In January 2014, The Globe announced plans to cut 18 positions, including nine editorial jobs, through buyouts and layoffs. The year before, 60 employees totalling 8 per cent of the paper’s workforce took buyouts.
“We’re examining The Globe’s unilateral decision to significantly reduce the number of highly talented journalists and advertising staff that have contributed to its success and reputation,” said Sue Andrew, chairperson of The Globe unit of Unifor 87M and the paper’s newsroom coordinator, in a statement. “Once we fully understand the severity of these job losses and the impact on guild members and their families we will have more to say.”
While The Globe is privately owned and does not publicly disclose its finances, Crawley has publicly admitted the paper has suffered from steep print revenue declines that have broadly affected the print media and publishing industries in the last ten years. The Globe’s weekday print circulation fell from 290,000 in 2013 to 230,000 last year.
On the other hand, The Globe has made considerable gains in digital readership. According to a July report by media research firm Vividata, The Globe’s weekly digital readership stands at 4.5 million, the largest such number for any single newspaper in Canada, and greater than the total number for all of the publications of Torstar Corp., the country’s second largest newspaper chain.
The paper also put up a metered paywall three and a half years ago which, according to Politico, last year meant that readers contributed 40 per cent of its revenue, up from 25 per cent a decade earlier — or, in other words, a shift away from advertisers.
Digital growth, however, has not been nearly enough to make up for lost revenues in newspaper circulation and advertising sales.
As it looks to reduce staff, The Globe is also preparing to move offices this fall from its downtown Front Street location to a new 17- storey tower at 351 King Street East in Toronto, to be called The Globe and Mail Centre. The paper, which staffs about 300 journalists, will occupy the top five floors of the building as its lead tenant.
However, the new offices are reported to be significantly smaller than its current space.
The Globe and Mail is wholly owned by The Woodbridge Company Ltd., a private holding company that acts as the chief investment vehicle for Toronto’s billionaire Thomson family.