Chapter 398： Newspaper layoff plan

Yang Cheng discussed with Eddie for more than an hour, and finally organized the plan of the live broadcast platform, and Eddie had to supervise and implement the rest.

Eddie didn’t rush after the discussion. He took this opportunity to talk to Yang Cheng about another thing, “Boss, after six months of development, whether it’s Forum Company, The New York Times or Time Magazine, The initial running-in gradually developed a tacit understanding, and the cooperation between each other complemented each other.

But the biggest problem has not been solved. Although we try to absorb excess manpower into the news editorial department of Toutiao app, the huge labor cost is still a problem we have to face, and the burden is too great.

Except for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, almost all other regional tabloids are at a loss or barely maintain a balance of payments, including the "New York Observer" that we just acquired. "

Yang Cheng dexterously turned the pen in his hand, leaned on the back of the chair and looked up at the ceiling, and asked in a deep voice, "Then you mean layoffs?"

Eddie took off his round glasses, rubbed his eyes a little hurt, and sighed, "Boss, I know this is a cruel decision, but we have to make it, not just for us, but for the entire American newspaper industry. The financial situation is in continuous decline, and the overall issuance has dropped to the lowest level since 1945.

Even if we don’t care about others, just talk about ourselves. Take the New York Times as an example. After receiving the New York Times, I led the management to conduct special investigations. If we have not intervened, let the New York Times follow the original process. Development, this year’s advertising revenue is expected to fall by about 10% year-on-year, while overall revenue will fall by 2%, and the probability of error in the estimation is less than 5%.

If we don’t make any changes, the New York Times will become a leech that sticks to the media of the new era, slowly draining the blood. "

Yang Cheng pressed his temples, his brows condensed with a faint worry. He knew that Eddie’s words might come true, but the impact of large-scale layoffs is not only in terms of external reputation. If someone organizes the laid-off employees to take to the streets to protest, it will be even more difficult for him to deal with it.

Don't say that he is Chinese, even the old man Murdoch has planted a big somersault on similar issues. Never expect your opponents to be kind to you.

Suddenly the pen in his hand had a pause, and he sat up straight, his sharp gaze directed at Eddie, "How many people are you planning to lay off?"

Eddie put on his glasses and stared at Yang Cheng without flinching. "There are currently more than 1,500 people in the New York Times newsroom. My plan is to sacrifice pure text editors. The number of editors in this group is about 130. Less than 10%, the impact will not be too great."

After a pause, he then added, "And we will not do too much. While laying off a group of old employees, we will also add a batch of fresh blood. Now in the Internet age, we no longer need unity. Talents, and need more young, all-rounders who are easy to accept new things for more first-line interview occasions.

In this way, while simplifying the structure of the editorial team, it can also save a certain amount of manpower costs and strengthen the frontline to discover original news.

Moreover, we can take the form of voluntary application to lay off employees. We will give a certain salary compensation to all those who voluntarily apply for resignation. This compensation is enough for them to not be short of food or clothing before finding the next job. "

Seeing Eddie's determined gaze, Yang Cheng couldn't help sighing, "It's still cold-blooded foreigners!"

However, the idea proposed by Eddie, Yang Cheng is still very optimistic, to reorganize an editorial team that can cover the entire production process of the article, and then an editor outside the team will make the final check before the content is published, instead of being written by a text editor. , And then passed to the "backstage" personnel responsible for the deployment of articles, and finally the tedious process of typesetting and printing after the verification team confirmed that it was correct. This is indeed a reasonable solution in line with the pace of the times.

After all, this is equivalent to reducing most of the previous articles to a news editor and a verification editor by at least three or four editors before being published. This reduces manpower and shortens the news. From the time of writing to sending out, there is such an optimized model, why do you stick to the old path?

Thinking about it this way, it seems that layoffs are not so difficult to accept.

But now that I have a reason to comfort myself, how to eliminate the external disturbance caused by layoffs?

Suddenly, Yang Cheng remembered that Eddie had only talked about the "New York Times". The entire New Era Media had nearly a hundred paper publications, large and small. If each company lay off 100 people, he would have to do it all at once. It caused tens of thousands of people to leave their jobs and lose their jobs. Let alone ZF and public opinion, he knew it in his own mind, and no one could bear the consequences.

Heartbrokenly asked, "Eddie, tell me the truth, how many people are you going to lay off? I mean the entire group."

"2000 people, of course, is not a one-time cut, three times in two years." Eddie answered truthfully.

Yang Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, the heart she was holding could not be put down. Although it is not as terrifying as 10,000, 2000 is not a small number. He can guarantee that as long as the plan is slightly worse, it will be leaked. Going out, there is no need to go to the next day, a few hours later, his phone call will be blown by the New York city councilors.

After thinking about it, I couldn’t fully agree to Eddie’s plan, and said, “It’s okay to lay off staff, but for now, we can only lay off the editors who really can’t help the newspaper. People in the other departments should not move for the time being to let the anxiety pervade. Newsroom, do you understand?"

Yang Cheng increased his tone and told Eddie that this was an order or not a discussion.

Eddie accepted this sentiment very well. Although Yang Cheng did not directly agree, it was better than negating it completely. Eddie was not without optimism.

In fact, if he was before, he would not really be so cruel to his employees. After all, he himself was the most brilliant thing in the paper media. He was proud of being the "uncrowned king" during that period. And proudly, if it were not a last resort, it would be difficult for him to make large-scale layoff decisions, especially since many of them were old friends who had worked with his classmates and had relationships for decades.

However, his **** decides his thinking. Now, as the CEO of New Era Media, he must put the company's interests first in what he considers to do. Anything harmful to the company must be the first to stand up and kill risks. Within the cradle, any brotherly feelings can only make him hesitate for a moment, but it will never change the direction of his actions.

Maybe even Eddie didn’t realize it. Before he knew it, he completed the perfect transformation from a pure media person to a cold-blooded capitalist. This kind of change is what Yang Cheng wants to see most. No boss in the world dislikes. Yang Cheng is no exception to a professional manager with strong ability and dedicated consideration for the company!

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