الأربعاء, نوفمبر 8th 2023
The 150 job cuts announced by CH Media on Wednesday, with an expected 90 redundancies, have sparked criticism. The professional association Impressum and the trade union Syndicom expressed their dismay and demanded that no redundancies be made. Two cantonal governments also spoke out.
Although Impressum recognizes “the economically tense situation”, it demands that redundancies remain “the last resort”, as the association writes in a press release. Syndicom is even clearer in its demand that no redundancies be made.
“It is unacceptable that savings are once again being made at the expense of so many employees. The entire media industry is already under enormous pressure, and the quality of reporting is ultimately suffering as a result,” Stephanie Vonarburg, Vice President of Syndicom, was quoted as saying in a press release.
Impressum demanded that “employees should be consulted seriously and with an open mind” in the consultation process. The aim should be to “reduce the number of redundancies”. Both wrote that they wanted to support the employees affected.
CH-Media CEO Michael Wanner said in an interview with the online magazine Persoenlich.com that the company wanted to avoid “a reduction in installments” with the redundancies and also “quickly create clarity for everyone involved”. The redundancies affect “all areas of German-speaking Switzerland”, where the company employs almost 2,000 people.
Due to the poor course of business with a lack of advertising revenue in the traditionally strongest third quarter, it would be “negligent not to react now”, said Wanner.
There were also reactions from the cantonal authorities. The Aargau cantonal government regrets the job cuts at the company, which has its headquarters in Aargau, as the Aargau state chancellery informed the Keystone-SDA news agency in response to an inquiry. The government hopes that “the economic situation of the company can be stabilized with the painful measures for the employees affected” and expects socially acceptable solutions.
The Lucerne cantonal government expressed its “concern” about the staff cuts and their impact on the Lucerne editorial site. It is a priority for the Lucerne government to maintain this location. “We have received this assurance – namely that the Luzerner Zeitung is part of CH Media’s core publishing business – from Michael Wanner,” cantonal councillor Fabian Peter was quoted as saying in a press release.
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