Up to 20 production staff could lose their jobs in a fresh round of cuts by a regional publisher.
Consultations are under way with staff at Newsquest’s central subbing hub in Newport, South Wales, over potential redundancies.
In August it was reported up to 19 jobs were at risk as part of a restructure of the company’s production operation, which is largely based in Newport.
Now it is understood that up to 20 more roles could be under threat.
A spokesman for Newsquest said: “Improvements in the workflow in our newsrooms have reduced the need for as many copy editors in the copy editing hubs, and therefore a consultation has been started about a possible reduction in staff numbers.”
There are currently around 40 staff working at the Newport hub, with around 20 based at a sister hub in Weymouth.
The introduction of the two hubs has seen much of the company’s production operation moved to the two sites from individual offices around the country in recent years.
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“..“Improvements in the workflow in our newsrooms have reduced the need for as many copy editors ”
and that says it all,be efficient,lose your jobs
so with 39 possible job losses,the traditional culling season is upon us!
Best wishes to those dedicated and loyal folk affected
even better luck to those few that remain
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Unless I’m reading this wrong – there are around 40 subbing jobs at the Newport centre. A previous consultation aimed at cutting 19 and now a new consultation is putting 20 more at risk. That makes 39, leaving just one member of staff left at the hub?
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The whole point of introducing new content management systems like Knowledge was to cut jobs. The programs are designed to reduce processes – subbing being the main one. Hubs, in my opinion, were only ever set up to take the pressure off newsdesks while staff grappled with the new technology. It was only ever going to be a matter of time.
Everything, I believe, will eventually boil down to reporters. Very sad for those facing redundancy.
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Longgone3
The trouble with relying solely on reporters is that so few remain,many more will fall by the wayside and the better ones will realise what they’re expected to do is not what they signed up for and move on to credible journalism elsewhere.
Being seen as a Jack of all trades and master of none is not good on the cv and is no career path but as there is no long term career in the regional press, the ones who would struggle to thrive elsewhere cling on in there doing whatever impractical and stressful working practice is asked of them.
Good wishes to the 39 going into consultation, at least you can leave with your heads held high
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Employee X – I agree it’s terribly dispiriting for those affected and those that remain but would advise anyone under threat during this death by a thousand cuts not to give up hope.
Every time I’ve dropped out of the insane demands of regional and local journalism to take a proper, grown-up job for a while, the fact I could do 19 jobs at once, to an impossible deadline, never ceased to amaze my new employer.
So now matter how bad it gets for those of you still clinging on, take solace in the fact any other industry will regard your productivity, time-management and ability to multi-task as solid gold.
And don’t listen to anyone who advises you there is no way back after you turn your back on journalism either.
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“The last sub in Weymouth – a tall tale of multi-tasking against all odds”
It has the ring of a Hollywood blockbuster, if ever I saw one. It will be up there with the Mission Impossible franchise, I’ll be bound
Joking aside, all this story show is that Newsquest’s grasp of maths is about as good as it’s grasp of the newspaper business.
What really bothers me is that while it stumbles from ever more ridiculous plan to another, it is playing fast and lose with employees and the well-being of those employees’ families.
I can’t be sure, but it must be a safe bet that some of the subs under threat of the dole upped sticks and moved to Weymouth from the nether corners of the kingdom in the belief that the upheaval would be of long term benefit to them. Some hope.
I suppose from Newsquest’s point of view at least it will know who to blame for any errors.
Anyone fancy being the last sub in Weymouth?
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Does this mean the money they got from the Welsh government a few years ago for job creation, in the setting up of this hub, will have to be repaid back?
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Didn’t they win an Investor In People award for their Newport hub last year?
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Will the affected subs ( ie all of them) be given the opportunity to retrain as reporters? No. I didn’t think so.
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Where’s the Investor In People plaque gone? It was on the wall in the lobby. Now it’s suddenly disappeared. Perhaps it’s being changed for a stab-them-in-the-back plaque…
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how come thers no jobs going in weymouth funny that
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