More bad news for Canada’s struggling newspaper industry as the venerable Globe and Mail newspaper has announced that it is entering into a fourth round of staff reductions.
The Globe and Mail has offered its employees a voluntary severance program to cut $10 million annually from its operating budget. Employees have been told that they have until May 29 to enrol in the voluntary program, and the company will decide in July if involuntary layoffs are required to further reduce staff.
It is the fourth time that the newspaper has offered a voluntary buyout program to employees since 2009. The Globe and Mail last offered a voluntary severance to employees in 2016. At the time, it offered voluntary buyouts to 40 of its approximately 650 staff. The newspaper also offered a voluntary buyout in 2013, when 60 staff left the paper.
The Globe and Mail is wholly owned by the Woodbridge Company Ltd., a private holding company that acts as the primary investment vehicle for Toronto's billionaire Thomson family. While exact figures aren’t available, Woodbridge Company has said that the Globe and Mail continues to lose money as print advertising revenue steadily declines.
