Postmedia trims as virus hits revenues

• Postmedia Network Inc., which owns the National Post and other media outlets across Canada, is temporarily laying off some staff, imposing salary reductions for employees earning more than $ 60,000 and closing 15 community newspapers in Manitoba and Ontario as advertising revenues have fallen sharply during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We regret causing anxiety for people and our employees, but we’re trying to be prudent in terms of navigating an uncertain future,”

we’re trying to be prudent (in) navigating an uncertain future.

Postmedia president and chief executive Andrew MacLeod said in an interview.

In an email to all Postmedia employees on Tuesday, Macleod wrote that the company, “like so many, has been hard hit by the freeze imposed across the Canadian economy and around the world.”

Both print and digital advertising revenue have suffered “very significant” declines, he said.

The company is utilizing every government subsidy that has been announced so far but “no subsidy can offset the declines in revenues our industry is experiencing,” Macleod said.

As a result, the company is permanently closing 15 community newspapers in Manitoba and around Windsor in Ontario. Shuttering those papers mean 30 jobs will be lost.

“The products that we closed today were really on the precipice and the crisis associated with the pandemic just pushed them over the edge.

“If we’re losing money on titles, then that has an impact on the overall company,” he said. “We regret it, but it was the right decision relative to the overall health of the company.”

In addition, 50 staff in the company’s sales and operations teams will receive temporary layoffs and be eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

For those who remain, salary reductions are coming May 4, with the largest pay cuts affecting higher paid employees. Macleod announced April 3 that he was voluntarily reducing his salary by 30 per cent. There will be a 20 per cent cut for executive vice- presidents, 17.5 per cent for senior vice-presidents and 12 per cent for vice-presidents.

All employees making more than $60,000 per year, with the exception of advertising representatives working on commission, will take at least a five per cent pay cut. The company is working with union representatives to come to an agreement on the reductions.

The temporary layoffs and salary rollbacks will be re-evaluated in three months when the company can better assess the country’s economic prospects.

“There’s no precedent to this, but we can’t even begin to understand what things will look like on the other side until we see the U. S. economy, the Canadian economy and large parts of the European economy open up,” Macleod explained.