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5 months ago
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About 150 staff from Seven West Media (SWM) have been let go amid a major round of redundancies, with three senior executives all leaving the company.
CEO Jeff Howard told staff in an email on Tuesday that costs needed to be cut, especially in the wake of Meta choosing not to renew its deal to pay for Australian news content.
Meta owns Facebook and Instagram.
'A number of roles across the company will change and unfortunately some people will be leaving us,' Mr Howard said.
'We will work hard to reduce the impact on people as much as we can, and we will make sure that our people are fully supported.'
Among the changes to SWM is the departure of chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins, and Seven's head of sport and managing director of Melbourne, Lewis Martin.
The trio combined have dedicated 65 years to SWM, with Mr Howard saying the workplace 'will be very different without them'.
'I wish them all the very best in the future and look forward to our paths crossing again, hopefully at a less challenging time for the industry,' he said.
Mr Burnette had been with the company for 34 years, while Mr Lewis had worked for SWM for three decades.
About 150 staff from Seven West Media have been let go amid a major round of redundancies, with three senior executives all leaving the company (pictured is Seven West Media CEO Jeff Howard)
CEO Jeff Howard told staff in an email on Tuesday that costs needed to be cut, especially in the wake of Meta choosing not to renew its deal to pay for Australian news
Among the changes to Seven is the departure of chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins, and Seven's head of sport and managing director of Melbourne Lewis Martin
Ms Hopkins joined the company in March last year, having worked at Optus.
The job cuts are part of attempts to save the business $100million, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Mr Howard told staff while SWM was doing well across print, digital and TV, 'our high cost base of $1.2billion a year is not sustainable and needs to be reduced'.
'As we look into FY25 we are faced with continuing upward pressure on this cost base,' he said.
SWM, which owns The West Australian newspaper, will move forward with three divisions - digital, TV and Western Australia.
A chief operating officer will also be appointed to the company, which is controlled by billionaire Kerry Stokes.
Mr Howard took on the role as CEO in late April.
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