Gannett will outsource the jobs of 485 employees on its business side to India, the newspaper chain reportedly told its business staffers Thursday.
The employees whose jobs will be outsourced to Hyderabad work primarily in businesses processes such as invoicing, accounting and preparing monthly summaries, according to Poynter. The chain plans to notify all those being laid off by mid-January, with those affected staying until April and in many cases training their replacements.
“Gannett is undertaking a massive company-wide transformation,” the company said in a statement. “To help the company transform quickly, we must remain nimble and focused on the needs of the business, while keeping our operating costs low, our control environment tight and our processes as efficient as possible.”
Gannett was acquired by New Media Investment Group’s GateHouse chain in 2019 for $1.4 billion. At the time, chief executive Mike Reed said the company would need to find at least $300 million in reductions to annual costs for the deal to work, Poynter noted.
The announcement comes after the company furloughed nearly every employee without pay for a week over several months during the coronavirus pandemic. The furloughs applied to all Gannett journalists making more than $38,000 a year. In recent months, the company offered buyouts to all employees, 500 of whom ultimately took management up on the offer.
The company did not rule out further outsourcing in 2021 but said there were no concrete plans. The chain publishes more than 100 newspapers throughout the country, including USA Today, the Detroit Free Press, the Arizona Republic and the Indianapolis Star.