Torstar laying off about 60 employees
Torstar Corp. [TS.B-T] is laying off about 60 unionized staff and managers across the organization, primarily in advertising sales at the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest-circulation daily.
A representative for the publisher of the Toronto Star and other papers says the layoffs cover various entities of the Star Media Group, which includes the Star newspaper and its online sister sites like wheels.ca, parentcentral.ca and toronto.com.
However, Torstar spokesman Bob Hepburn noted that the layoffs are particularly focused at the Star’s newspaper operations.
An agreement with the union prevents the company from specifying exactly how many people received layoff notices in each department, he said.
Torstar Corp.
The Globe and Mail
The Star has been implementing a series of layoffs affecting both the unionized staff and managers. Just under 60 staff members are being affected, mostly in sales and marketing support roles, he said.
‘We’re facing severe business challenges. No major metro newspaper in Canada or the United States has been spared from the intense financial pressures created by a combination of the severe cyclical and structural revenue declines.”
The Star Media Group also includes magazines such as Eye Weekly, Sway, Desi Life, Canadian Immigrant, and cable channel Shop TV Canada.
The layoffs come on top of about 64 jobs cut last month at Torstar’s three Metroland dailies — the Hamilton Spectator, Guelph Mercury and The Waterloo Region Record in southern Ontario.
Torstar is also going through a major review of its operations in a move to deal with falling ad revenues and other financial troubles. So more streamlining could be in the works that will affect the company’s 7,000 employees across its various businesses, including the newspapers, Internet properties and the Harlequin publisher of romance fiction.
Last week, Torstar reported a $211.2-million quarterly loss on falling revenues, which included $229=million in writedowns on associated businesses and investments.
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