Second Round Of Retrenchments At Media Prima Expected

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More than 540 NSTP staff were left without a job in March in the first round of a rationalisation exercise. (Facebook pic)PETALING JAYA: Media Prima Bhd, the parent company to the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) group and four television channels, is likely to carry out its second retrenchment exercise which could affect some 300 staff members
This comes after 543 NSTP staff were left without a job just three months ago in the first round of a rationalisation exercise
FMT has learnt that the personnel — who may include editorial staff —would clock in for the last time on Aug 31
Letters of termination will be issued at the end of June, a source said
“The salary for August will be paid alongside the compensation, which is based on the years of service with the company,” the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said
The source also said staff strength at the respective headquarters would be decreased, while others would be absorbed into other departments or subsidiaries
The source said while many understood the need for the retrenchment, they were unhappy with the manner in which it was being carried out
“They told us one thing but are doing another thing when it comes to who is going to be impacted.”The source also said while there were those who expected another round of retrenchments, they did not expect it to be “this soon”
“A lot of us did not see this coming. We thought after the first one, the company would be able to pick itself up again, but it wasn’t so.”In March, NSTP bureaus nationwide were also trimmed to five from the previous 14, with departments in the east coast, north and south merged
In November, Media Prima announced job cuts affecting thousands of employees. It said this was part of a “restructuring exercise” to be completed by the first quarter of 2020. - FMT

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