300 jobs will be lost at publisher DC Thomson
Three hundred employees at DC Thomson will be laid off, the Dundee-based publisher has confirmed.
The redundancies were announced after the company said on Wednesday it had to “reshape its portfolio” to fill a £10million gap.
A number of Dundee-based magazine titles are being closed including youth magazine Shout.
About half of the job losses will come from the closure of titles acquired by Colchester-based Aceville in 2018.
A spokesman for DC Thomson, which employs about 1,600 people across the UK, said it was a “difficult decision”.
“A lot of work goes into making our titles and while loved, some titles and brands have a harder time being profitable,” they added.
“Realigning DC Thomson’s media business allows us to focus on communities with potential for sustainable growth.”
The company confirmed the closure of magazines such as Living, Platinum, Evergreen, Shout, Animals & You and Animal Planet, all of which are produced in Dundee.
Staff were told in a series of meetings on Wednesday their jobs were at risk, before being told the number of layoffs on Thursday morning.
DC Thomson also publishes newspapers such as The Press and Journal, The Sunday Post and The Courier.
Staff have been told the news outlets will not be shut down, but it is understood the jobs of journalists, photographers, executives and editors are at risk.
The editor-in-chief of Press & Journal and Evening Express in Aberdeen, Frank O’Donnell, was told his job was “in jeopardy”.
Sources within DC Thomson described the atmosphere in the office as “dark”.
It is believed that senior editors were angry at the way staff layoffs were handled, as they had not been consulted on plans to downsize.
Nick McGowan-Lowe, organizer of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for Scotland, said: “These are brutal cuts and we will fiercely defend our members’ jobs.
“Our members are furious at how the company has dealt with these redundancies and because they are trying to cut £10m across the business after paying out £24m in dividends to shareholders last year.
“Hard-working journalists’ jobs should not be sacrificed to pay the price of extravagant shareholder gains.”
DC Thomson also produces magazines and comics including The People’s Friend, Beano and Puzzler.
It employs staff from offices across Scotland, including in Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow, as well as in Colchester and London.
