Germany’s ProSiebenSat. 1 to cut 400 jobs in push towards digital

BERLIN (Reuters) -German media group ProSiebenSat.1 will cut 400 full-time positions, the company said on Tuesday, as part of restructuring measures focusing on its entertainment activities.

“The aim is to achieve a more efficient structure, a competitive cost base, and processes clearly geared to digital transformation,” the company said in a statement.

ProSiebenSat.1 said the company had agreed on a voluntary redundancy programme with employee representatives, with the first effects of the cuts to become visible in the fourth quarter of this year.

The measures are expected to amount to a low double-digit million euro amount for 2023, which has already been taken into account for this year’s outlook, it added.

The full cost effect for 2024 will amount to a mid double-digit million euro amount.

The downsizing amounts to one 10th of some 4,000 full-time positions at the company’s headquarters and in its entertainment division.

The cuts include vacant positions that will no longer be filled, a spokesperson said.

“We have to operate in an extremely challenging economic environment for the fourth year in a row,” said Chief Executive Bert Habets.

“The job cuts are a difficult but entrepreneurially necessary decision, so that ProSiebenSat.1 can increase its earning power and grow sustainably and healthily again,” he said in the statement.