News Corp's Oz arm News Ltd. slashes 70 digital staff in cost-cutting sweep

Sydney, June 26 (ANI): Australian media conglomerate News Limited has announced plans to slash 70 digital staff on grounds of redundancy.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said the firm's management notified the union of the impending loss of 70 digital platform staff, less than a week since Australia's biggest newspaper publisher detailed a plan for a major restructuring effort.

MEAA acting Federal Secretary Paul Murphy said News Ltd's sudden redundancies were a bad start to the restructure.

"The company revealed it was about to embark on a carefully thought-through restructuring process," Sydney Morning Herald quoted MEAA, saying in a statement.

"But less than a week later, without proper consultation or explanation, its digital staff are learning that they are being made redundant at a time when they should have felt assured they would play a vital role in the future of the News Limited business," it added.

According to the paper, it is understood 17 editorial staff at the Gold Coast Bulletin have lost their jobs, while eight sub-editors each at the Cairns Post and Townsville Bulletin have been made redundant.

However, News Limited did not confirm the number of redundancies.

"We can confirm that as part of rolling out our new operating model to build our business, we have made a range of roles redundant across the business," a spokesperson for the firm said in a statement.

"Positions are also being retired through natural attrition," he added. (ANI)