[The Epoch Times, February 11, 2023](Epoch Times reporter Takasugi compiled report) News Corporation said on Thursday (February 9) that it will cut about 1,250 jobs, accounting for 5% of its total workforce. This is the latest round of layoffs in the US media and technology industry in recent months.
News Corp. is one of the largest media groups in the world. Its chairman and shareholder, and former chief executive, is Rupert Murdoch. It owns many well-known media such as “Wall Street Journal”, “New York Post”, “Barron’s Weekly” and “HarperCollins”.
The group said the difficult macroeconomic environment, as well as rising interest rates, had been hurting the company.
On Thursday, the company reported earnings results. And said its quarterly revenue fell 7% from a year earlier to $2.52 billion. Recently, media companies, especially digital media, have been grappling with a challenging advertising market.
Robert Thomson, News Corp’s current chief executive, said in Thursday’s earnings report: “Just as our company passed the stress test of the pandemic with record profits, similar initiatives are being pursued now, including This includes cutting 5% of our workforce, or approximately 1,250 positions this calendar year, to create a strong platform for future growth.”
Thomson pointed to a surge in revenue from its professional information business at Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, despite “obvious global challenges.” Quarterly revenue for the overall Dow business was up 11% from a year earlier.
Last month, Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch called off a planned merger between News Corp and Fox. Because they believe that the current “merger is not the best option for the shareholders of the two companies.”
While withdrawing its takeover plan, News Corp. has been in advanced negotiations to sell its stake in Move Inc. (Realtor.com’s parent company) to commercial real estate company CoStar Group. Discussions are still ongoing, the company disclosed on Thursday.
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei