Two more long-standing members of the Independent‘s sports desk, Jon Cobb and Simon Jones, are primed to leave the paper along with sports editor Matt Tench.
The sport desk departures are understood to be voluntary redundancies, part of the management’s effort to cut 90 jobs from its overall staff. Unable to fulfil the cuts voluntarily, the process of compulsory redundancy began today, with as many as 20 journalists at the Independent and Independent on Sunday were served with notices, following Independent editor Roger Alton holding a series of individual meetings with affected staff yesterday.
In an email to staff last night, Independent and Independent on Sunday managing editor Imogen Haddon said: “We have now spoken to the individuals at risk of redundancy and we would like to let you know that, if you have not been spoken to now, your job is not at risk.
“I am very sorry that this is such a difficult time for everyone.”
Last week, the NUJ suspended industrial action it had called over the threat of compulsory redundancies. NUJ officials will meet with management today and hold a chapel meeting on Friday.
The Independent hopes to complete the process of job cuts ahead of its move to Associated Newspapers’ headquarters in Kensington next month.
The move will begin over the weekend of April 4-5, with the advertising department moving first. The plan is to stagger the process after that, with the whole process taking between six weeks and two months, with editorial the last to go.
More on sports desk job cuts:
Lovejoy job “at risk†at Sunday Times
Redundancy round ‘complete’ at Herald group
Express to cut more than 70 jobs
Sports desk at centre of Telegraph concern
NUJ chapel protest at Independent‘s sports cuts
Click here for Press Gazette’s latest graph of industry job losses
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