Seven Network’s parent company to axe up to 300 jobs

The parent company of the Seven Network has announced up to 300 staff will be axed by the end of the month as it looks to save hundreds of millions of dollars.

Southern Cross Media, the business created from the recent merger of Kerry Stokes’ Seven West and radio group Southern Cross, blamed “market conditions that have deteriorated materially more than anticipated” for the job cuts.

The job losses, which were first reported in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, were confirmed in a statement to the ASX by Southern Cross Media CEO Rohan Lund.

“We must reset our cost base to meet current market conditions and capture the full benefits of scale across our trusted platforms for our audiences and advertisers, now and into the future,” he said.

“Unfortunately, this means saying goodbye to some talented colleagues who have helped build our business.”

The company said the cuts would be focused on “mid and back office and corporate staff”, and it insisted support would be offered to impacted employees in the process.

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The impacted employees will leave the company on or before June 30.

Southern Cross Media Group did not elaborate on which media arms of their business would be hit by the job cuts when contacted by nine.com.au.

“Today’s ASX announcement outlined the scope of our operational review,” a spokesperson said.

“To respect our team’s privacy, we will not be commenting further.”

Implemented as part of a wider cost-cutting operation, the company said the changes were designed to “remove duplication, streamline and automate our processes.”

The statement to the ASX said challenging “advertising market conditions” had hit their overall revenues, which were around 2.5 per cent below expectations, and that the cost-cutting program will save up to $150 million.

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“The cost reduction program will create the leaner, more flexible, cost base required for the Group to be competitive,” the statement from Southern Cross Media said.

Seven West Media owned and operated 7News, 7news.com.au, The West Australian, The Sunday Times and The Nightly, along with Community Newspaper Group, which publishes over 20 newspapers in WA, before the merger with Southern Cross, which was first mooted in September last year.

The merger was officially completed at the start of this year, with Kerry Stokes, influential leader of Seven West, not taking up a role at the new company.