Pacific Magazines to axe all but three of its 22 subbing roles
Pacific Magazines is to axe all but three of its 22 subbing roles and outsource most of its production to Pagemasters, the company has announced.
The company will outsource 19 sub-editor roles across its mastheads to Pagemasters. Just three sub-editing staff members will remain as part of a new content management team.
The cuts take to 30 the number of redundancies the Seven West Media owned PacMags has made in recent days following cuts to advertising and digital staff, along with the fashion picture desk.
Mumbrella understands the redundancy process will take up to six weeks, with sub-editing staff to remain at Pacific Magazines until it is completed.
The company is set to meet with all affected staff to discuss potential new opportunities, either through Pagemasters or with Pacific Magazines’ new internal content management team although this will only require three members of staff.
A redundancy package will be available for those who are not redeployed.
Addressing staff in an email last week, CEO Gereurd Roberts said the proposed move would mirror Pacific Magazines’ current three phase sub-editing process and would “ensure strict adherence” to brand guidelines.
“[These] decisions have not been easy to make, and I know they will be difficult for many of you also. They are in no way a reflection of the tremendous work, commitment and care these team members have always shown.
Roberts: “Many of the decisions have not been easy to make, and I know they will be difficult for many of you also”
“These changes will ensure that we continue to progress – that we have a profitable, financially secure business that is positioned to take advantage of all the opportunities that will present themselves in the future.”
The latest news comes seven months after 11 positions across the sales team were made redundant, following a commercial re-structure, which proposed a ‘total network approach.’
Since FY13, Seven West Media’s Pacific Magazines has reported a decline in revenue year on year with the publisher reporting a decline of 8.6% from $220.1m to $201.2m at the end of FY16.
Pacific Magazines’ decision follows on from Fairfax Media, who looked to move its production from its New Zealand Hub back to Pagemasters in 2016.
Pacific Magazine’s brands include Better Homes and Gardens, Diabetic Living, Family Circle, InStyle, Girlfriend, Home Beautiful, Marie Claire, New Idea, Who, Men’s Health, That’s Life!, Virgin Australia Voyeur and Women’s Health.
Late last year, Pacific Magazines became the final major publisher to withdraw for the Audited Media Association of Australia, effectively killing the magazine audit.
Fairfax described outsourcing to Pagemasters as a “dumb idea” that they quickly abandoned. New Zealand Herald also outsourced to them then rapidly took back.
But I’m sure this will work out fine.
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For heaven’s sake! This on a day when the Courier Mail has reported that heat on planes makes passengers “nauseas”!
And a few weeks after a national newspaper journalist told me the subs had “consulted spellcheck”! for the spelling of the past participle of a verb … that they – naturally – thus got wrong.
Sack the subs by all means – but get some replacements with rudimentary knowledge of grammar.
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