Jobs to go at media firm Reach – Covid-19 cited as reason

The loss of 550 jobs at newspaper giant Reach is the latest example of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Unite said today (Tuesday July 7).

Reach, the owner of the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express, as well as a number of local titles said it is cutting 12 per cent of its workforce as revenues slumped by nearly 30 per cent in the quarter to June.

“This is just another example of a company that was financially sound before the pandemic being impacted drastically over the last three months,” commented Unite national officer for the media industry, Louisa Bull.

“Reach is now taking steps to realign the business to safeguard as many jobs as possible.  We will be working with Reach during this process and supporting our members in the commercial areas on both the national and regional titles.

“The newspaper sector has been in decline for some time and the tensions between print and digital have only been exacerbated at this time,” she said.

But at least in this gloom there is some better news for Unite members. “Reach has also confirmed that our members working in the print sites are not impacted by today’s announcement,” Bull added.

By Shaun Noble