Layoffs have begun at Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv". Dozens of employees, mostly at the paper's business supplement, including correspondents, editors, and graphic designers, were called to the editor-in-chief Avi Meshulam and deputy editor Yoav Golan for hearings ahead of layoffs.
The cutback plan by Ma'ariv Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MARV) includes the firing of 120 employees from various departments within a month, as part of a larger laying off of 400 employees over the next few months. The paper's sports section and magazine, along with the business supplement, will be consolidated with the main section within a month.
Meshulam told the employees that no pay cuts would be made to the paper's remaining employees.
The cutbacks are intended to improve Ma'ariv Holdings' cash flow, after Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) demanded repayment of the company's NIS 106 million debt, after Ma'ariv chairman Zaki Rakib refused to acquire it.
Ma'ariv Holdings also announced that it had offered to sell its distribution services to freesheet "Israel Today."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2011
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