The company blames ‘a rapid change in media usage’ and a shift in the advertising landscape for the situation, adding it is going to focus instead on digital offerings.
Media organisation Tamedia is planning to cut more than 10% of its workforce and to close two of its three printing plants in Switzerland.
Some 290 out of 1,800 jobs are to go as the group hopes to make its business model more profitable by developing the digital presence of its four strongest brands while simultaneously downgrading its printing capacity.
Titles Tages-Anzeiger, BZ Berner Zeitung, Basler Zeitung and 24 heures will be at the forefront of digital growth with less-popular brands being integrated into those platforms.
Tamedia says its print portfolio will continue to exist even though printing plants in Bussigny and Zurich are set to close in March 2025 and the end of 2026 respectively.
The printing plant in Bern, however, is being expanded to cater for the company’s remaining print products.
“A reorganisation is taking place in newspaper printing,” said Tamedia in a statement on Tuesday.
“In recent years, excess capacity has arisen that no longer makes it possible to operate three [print] operations profitably. …The changes are necessary to maintain the performance and quality of journalism.”
The decline of traditional advertising
The company also pointed out it was responding to changes in the advertising market brought about by technology companies.
Given the rise of data-driven, personalised marketing, many advertisers have shifted their budgets away from traditional media to target consumers online.
Dwindling readership numbers for newspapers are also driving the trend, ultimately leading to revenue losses for traditional services.
From the beginning of 2025, Tamedia will organise its advertising marketing in-house under the name of Tamedia Advertising.
Employee support
Speaking further on the job cuts, CEO Jessica Peppel-Schulz underlined: “We will follow the path we have chosen as carefully as possible and assume our responsibility as an employer.”
Of the 290 posts to be cut, 90 are expected to be in editorial departments – although exact plans are subject to consultation.
Social plans will be put in place to help affected employees, including the possibility of early retirement, Tamedia added.
Those wishing to take part in development and retraining programmes may also be financially supported.
In Tamedia’s last earnings report, the firm announced a 8.7% fall in first-half sales to 203.3m Swiss francs (€215m).
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) dropped 11.7% to 5.4m francs (€5.7m).
