Restructuring: PRISA to reduce staff by 18%

The plan will affect around 2,500 people across all companies in all countries and in all areas

PRISA is to carry out a restructuring plan that will involve an 18% reduction of its workforce worldwide. The plan, which has already been communicated to trade unions and employee representatives so as to reach an agreement on reductions, will affect about 2,000 people in Spain and another 500 in Portugal and the Americas, although the Group has not ruled out a second phase affecting a greater number of employees outside of Spain.

The staff restructuring, which will be implemented between now and the first quarter of 2012, is aimed at safeguarding the greatest number of jobs and provides for a number of different measures (outsourcing, voluntary redundancy, early retirement, etc.), which will be specified after negotiations. The plan is based on a thorough analysis of each of the Group's companies and is aimed at resizing teams to appropriate levels, achieving the rationalization of resources, as well as the standardization and centralization of global processes.

The process reflects the broad shift taking place in the media sector that requires PRISA's transformation into a new company, focused not only on the production and distribution of content in Spanish and Portuguese, but also on building up a comprehensive knowledge of its stakeholders and on the use of new technologies. As a consequence, PRISA must update its production and business model so as to guarantee in the future the sustainability of the company.

The plan, approved by the Executive Committee of the company at an ordinary meeting last Friday, will endow PRISA with the appropriate cost structure to better compete with companies in its sector in a global market.