German national newspaper FAZ to axe 200 jobs

BERLIN, Sept 16 (AFP):  One of Germany's most venerable newspapers said Tuesday it would cut up to 200 jobs over the next three years with a cost-cutting drive to weather the print media crisis.

Publishers of the influential conservative broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said they aimed to save more than 20 million euros ($26 million) by 2017.

Up to 40 of the positions on the chopping block belong to journalists, the company said in a statement, amounting to 10 per cent of its newsroom.

The FAZ management announced the measures at a staff meeting after reports of the layoffs sent shock waves through the German media. It said it hoped to trim its workforce by attrition, part-time work for older employees and outsourcing projects but did not rule out redundancies.

"The FAZ is also going to have to pay the price for new economic conditions," chief executive Thomas Lindner said.

"We need flexibility for the development of new products and for the future strategy of our business."

One of a handful of newspapers seen as a national daily in Germany, the FAZ, founded in 1949 in the business capital Frankfurt, also runs a separate Sunday edition and an online news site.