Bauer is continuing its cost-cutting spree with 60 redundancies and a further 16 employees stood down on Monday.
It comes just three days after the $40 million sale of the Pacific Magazines business to Bauer Media went through.
Sources close to B&T confirmed the job losses, adding that it is all”very sad”.
Production of Pacific Magazine titles Men’s Health and Women’s Health will also be temporarily stopped.
It follows yesterday’s rumours that many more Pac Mag titles would be axed, according to former mag boss Deborah Thomas.
The road to the merger has not been an easy one, and it appears things will continue to get messier.
There had been questions over whether or not the deal would actually go ahead since the ACCC approved it, with Bauer reportedly angling for a lower price.
It was also revealed Bauer stopped the use of freelance journalists and suspended staff expense claims days before the final completion of the sale was due to go ahead.
The cost-cutting measures coupled with the decision to close Bauer’s New Zealand arm and reports its bought EY onboard to review the business locally cast plenty of doubt over whether Bauer would go ahead with the deal.
Seven West Media’s Pacific Magazines then took Bauer Media to court, in an effort to ensure the deal goes ahead at the agreed price.
And then came COVID-19.
Due to the impact of COVID-19 in Australia, and the correlated decrease in advertising revenue, Bauer temporarily suspended the print publication of certain titles a proposed a business restructure.
The proposal meant that 70 Bauer staff were made redundant and a similar number stood down.
