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London (pte032/10.12.2004/14:45) - The world's largest wire agency Reuters http://www.reuters.com is to axe up to 100 jobs from its news bureaux around the world due to expansion in China and India. Reuters said around four per cent of its 2,300 editorial staff would be affected by the restructuring. It expects to save 440 million pounds (636.45 million euros) by 2006. As the Media Guardian http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk reports, journalists were told of the news by e-mail.
According to the Media Guardian, David Schlesinger, global managing editor of Reuters, told journalists via e-mail that 100 jobs would be affected. He later said that some bureaux would lose "a journalist or two", while around 50 posts would be affected by "migrating jobs" to offices in Bangalore, Toronto and Singapore. He added that hiring journalists in China and India would rectify the losses by the end of 2005. "It's very traumatic but in terms of the coverage we are able to give to subscribers and in terms of the size of the organisation there is virtually no change."
According to Victoria Barrett, mother of the chapel at the London bureau, the biggest concern was for staff on the sports desk, who could become victims of a change in editorial focus. In her eyes, Schlesinger's e-mail left questions unanswered. "What is interesting is what it doesn't say. The staff are still very concerned about the sports desk. It is quite clear that sport is under threat."
Bangalore, which opened a news operation this year, employs a 300-strong workforce. This is expected to double in size next year. Reuter's operating costs in Bangalore are 60 per cent less than in London and New York, with journalists there earning 75 per cent less than their counterparts in the UK and US. According to Schlesinger, the Bangalore newsroom would grow in 2005. "We are looking forward to significantly ramp up the editorial operation in Bangalore so there will be a lot of hiring in the coming year," Schlesinger said. Reuter's three-year structuring plan, dubbed Fast Forward, is expected to cut the payroll from 15,500 to around 13,000 employees.
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