Business Post cuts pay for staff by up to 15%

Newspaper group becomes latest media company to respond to Covid-19 crisis

Business Post chief executive Colm O’Reilly said he was confident the impact of the crisis would be temporary.

Business Post Media Group, the publisher of the Business Post newspaper, has cut salaries by between 5 per cent and 15 per cent until the end of June.

Employees of the Sunday print title and its website were given an update Wednesday on how the company plans to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, which has prompted a collapse in advertising revenues.

The publisher said circulation and digital sales had “performed strongly” and the newspaper continued to publish as normal, but acknowledged that there has been a drop in advertising “similar to that experienced by other outlets across the media sector”.

The higher pay cuts will apply to staff on higher salaries, it said, with the measures reviewed “as circumstances evolve”.

READ MORE

Business Post chief executive Colm O’Reilly said he was confident the impact of the crisis would be temporary, but that the company needed to respond to the changed circumstances.

The company said it intended to avail of supports put in place by the Government to assist companies during the crisis period.

Unprecedented times

“At a time of uncertainty, trusted news is vital. The Business Post remains committed to producing quality journalism and providing the public with the information they need to know during these unprecedented times,” Mr O’Reilly said.

The move follows pay cuts at several other Irish media outlets, including radio group Communicorp and Journal Media, as well as some employees of Independent News & Media and regional newspaper groups including Iconic Newspapers.

Last week, marketing group Core forecast that advertising revenues across the Irish market would plunge 30 per cent in 2020.

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics