More than 30 jobs look set to go at Newsquest as the company looks to outsource pre-press work to India.

The development would affect staff in Sussex and Wiltshire.

But there are fears the move could be repeated at other centres if it proves a success.

Newsquest has operations from Glasgow to Southampton and from Cardiff to Basildon. There are 17 dailies and almost 300 weeklies.

Its pre-press staff design adverts and check pages before printing but, if the move is rubber-stamped, these roles would be outsourced to Express KCS – an American firm with sites in India.

In Sussex, where The Argus is printed, 31 pre-press staff – 22 full-time and nine part-timers – would be cut to the equivalent of ten full-time positions.

Meanwhile, in Wiltshire around 13 jobs are expected to go at titles including the Swindon Advertiser.

In Worcestershire, the company has been experimenting with sending the pages abroad but so far there have been no redundancies.

Management is currently engaged in a four-week consultation process with staff and union representatives.

Steve Sibbald, national officer for newspapers from the union Unite, which represents the staff, believes if the move goes ahead and is successful Newsquest will roll it out UK-wide.

He said: “That’s what really concerns us. I cannot imagine that, if it’s successful and it’s more profitable, they will not do it at any other sites.

“Our regional officials will be representing our members at the various sites.”

Martin Hodges, regional official for Unite, added: “While we have no issues with work being done in India as such, the big problem is that it’s being done on a profit before people basis.

“Our big concern is that it’s a local product sold for local people. Jobs would have gone to local people and now that’s not going to happen. The workforce is very upset about it.

“These are skilled people but they are going to have to take a different profession altogether.”

Newsquest declined to make any comment on this story.

Comments

Steve Ballard (13/05/2008 13:19:41)
I have worked at the Basingstoke Gazette for 19 years and cannot believe what they are doing here, I have been fortunate not to be made redundant but have gone with the flow of new technology which I knew would one day take my job away, but to send it to India especially with a so called ‘socialist’ government in place is a disgrace, but this government has allowed jobs to be sent to India from all areas, I just wonder what they will make of some of the copy preparation and attitudes of advertising reps when the problems start.
There I have got that off my chest, feel much better after that rant.

David MacRobert (25/05/2008 15:53:19)
Just can’t agree with Steve B’s comment.
This is a macroeconomic trend and has little or nothing to do with whether or not the current government is socialist.
It makes good business sense to outsource publishing jobs to India. Not only is it much cheaper but the quality is on the whole high too. In my experience of dealing with Far Eastern prepress suppliers, which is at least 10+ years, they can be at least as good as UK staff, if not better.
If we start to protect UK jobs by discouraging outsourcing then (a) our production costs will become higher than otherwise and (b) UK companies that trade with India etc. may have similar measures taken against them. Protectionism will work for a few years but in the long run it destroys more jobs.
In the UK we need to focus on new categories of publishing job, offering much higher value-added, i.e. be prepared to learn new skills, such as web design/programming, and develop new types of publishing business. The flexible customer-focused companies will survive; the others don’t deserve too. It’s not all about profit: it’s just common sense.

Mike Buckley (17/06/2008 15:19:32)
I have been made redundant along with all my production colleagues from Packet Newspapers in Falmouth, myself after working for the company for 41 years and five months. I am 57 years of age and all of a sudden have no future, a pretty poor pension considering all the years I contributed, and feel very badly let down by the management who always seem to trundle on regardless of the consequences of their actions on loyal workers and their families. Good luck to all the Indian workforce they are going to need it. How long before somewhere cheaper than India is found and they get treated in the same way as ourselves?