Toronto Star announces restructure amidst disappointing revenue figures

"We must find the best way to operate our business at the lowest possible cost, including contracting out non core functions where there is a sound business case to do so," he wrote in the memo. "This will involve what is likely to be the biggest restructuring of the Star's workforce in its history."

According to the newspaper's union, there are plans to contract out as many as 60 jobs in advertising and graphics, and 100 jobs in the editorial department.

Also the owner of several regional dailies, Torstar previously announced plans to move some advertising jobs from these papers to India. The Toronto Star has also moved circulation jobs to India and classified-call-center jobs to Buffalo, New York, the union said.

"Star readers will be shocked to hear that core aspects of its daily journalism, that vital role in our society, are now to be farmed out, likely to foreign interests," Maureen Dawson, the head of the Star's union, said in the statement.

"We'll be proposing alternatives to this misguided plan," Dawson added.

The Toronto Star, like many other newspapers in the current climate, has been suffering from post-recession financial troubles. In third quarter figures released today it was revealed that Torstar's newspapers have plunged a further 12.6 per cent in revenue.  

In its report, the company blamed the numbers on lost advertising revenue. Interim CEO, David Holland said that he did not expect this particular issue to recover quickly, saying: "We are anticipating a difficult revenue trend to continue until this economy in this region starts to gain some momentum."

Nevertheless, Holland estimated that by the end of 2009, the restructuring process will have saved the company some $34 million, and there have been no suggestions of closing the paper.

Source: Bloombery, AP, Globe and Mail