Reach risks "debilitating drain of morale" over cuts, says NUJ
The National Union of Journalists has urged transparency and meaningful commitments on jobs from publisher Reach, following a meeting of the union's Reach group chapel.
NUJ Reach group chapel statement
“This group chapel is aware of redundancies either being made or about to be made, in multiple restructures taking place in different parts of the group over the last two months. It has been suggested in some trade media reports that cuts are not taking place in England and the company says that the numbers of jobs going are “small”. But in reality, they concern more than two dozen talented journalists leaving the company and quality jobs disappearing.
“Our members are mindful of Jim Mullen’s words as we entered 2024 about staff not having “one eye over their shoulder” after a corrosive year of hundreds of lost journalists’ jobs. Yet that is exactly what is happening currently, particularly if you are in a print-facing role.
“The 60 new roles being created in the digital Content Hub are, of course, welcomed. But our members cannot avoid the feeling that in some way sacrifices are being made in print – where three quarters of Reach’s revenue still comes from – to fund changes the company wants elsewhere. This is no reflection on anyone being recruited to Reach, but does lead to speculation on the wisdom of the actions being taken.
“The constant threat of cutbacks, particularly among the national titles, is a major source of demotivation and drain on morale. This group chapel calls on the company to make 2025 a redundancy-free, growth year at Reach.”
Chris Morley, NUJ national coordinator for Reach plc, said:
“The run-up to the end of the year is typically difficult for the security of journalists’ jobs but our members at Reach are very concerned at the drip, drip of redundancy restructurings among predominately print-facing roles as we approach Christmas.
“This is especially so given the optimistic words coming from bosses at the start of 2024 in the wake of the annus horribilis for redundancies in the company last year. The company needs to be upfront about what they are doing and engage in proper consultation about why they think they need to do what they are doing.
“It is crucial that the company maintains the confidence of staff and prevents a debilitating drain of morale.”