El País cuts one in three jobs due to media crisis
The renowned Spanish newspaper El País is cutting around one in three jobs in the face of an ongoing media crisis. 128 colleagues will be made redundant and 21 others sent into early retirement, the employees announced on Tuesday.
The remaining employees will have to accept a 15 percent pay cut. Despite the difficult economic situation for media companies, the number of employees at El País has remained stable at around 470 since 2007. The newspaper's employees blamed the crisis in the media market, the country's economic crisis and the management of the Prisa media group, to which El País belongs, for the job cuts. Spain's largest media group reported a loss of 53 million euros in the second quarter.
The newspaper's cost-cutting plan highlights the difficulties that the Spanish media have been struggling with for years. Over the past five years, almost 8,000 jobs have been cut in the media sector. Newspapers, radio and television stations are reporting falling advertising revenue and customers are leaving. In addition, it is difficult for media companies to earn money with news on the Internet. (SDA)
