Free newspaper and online brand Metro has announced to staff that it will be making job cuts as a result of declining web traffic.
The publisher announced in an email to staff, seen by Press Gazette, that staff are at risk of redundancy as it looks to focus resources “in areas with the highest potential for growth”.
Publisher DMG Media has not revealed how many roles will be cut.
The email added that the publisher is “mitigating” challenges on web traffic with “licensing deals, social video growth and other revenue streams”.
Leading publishers have reported significant declines in referral traffic from Google Search this year, as AI-written summaries and AI Mode have significantly impacted clickthrough rates.
[Read more: AI Overviews cutting publisher clickthrough rates by 50%, new report finds]
‘A number of job losses’
Staff at risk of redundancy received the email on Thursday afternoon.
It said: “As you all know, our industry has been through significant changes since Metro launched in 1999.
“Thanks to your talent and creativity, we have navigated these changes. We have grown our audience, secured new revenue streams and successfully diversified the business…
“However, the world is transforming at rapid pace. Changes in consumer behaviour and a challenging economic backdrop have impacted our website traffic and advertising revenues.
“Our ambition is to strengthen our resilience and continue investing in journalism. To do so, we will need to continue transforming how the newsroom operates, focusing our resources in areas with the highest potential for growth.
“Regrettably, these changes will result in a number of job losses.”
Colleagues were told if they were at risk of redundancy they would receive an email later that day.
“We know this news will be difficult and unsettling. This is a step taken with great reluctance and sadness, because we value the contributions of every single team member.”
The email continued to note that cuts are being made as the publisher revealed it is working to put the “newsroom back on a path of growth”, to “launch new content and products that will engage” its audience and advertisers, “protect print profitability” and “create a sustainable business”.
This is to adapt to audiences “seeking news in different ways”, and it aims to adapt by expanding its social video offering.
The email also referenced the last time Metro made significant cuts in 2023 when the paper underwent a major restructure.
The restructure was to deal with financial losses deemed “in no way sustainable” following the Covid-19 pandemic, advertising downturn and increases in newsprint, fuel and ink costs. It led to the creation of one editorial team for print and online, and a number of redundancies and departures including former newspaper editor Ted Young.
“Two years ago, along with integrating our digital and print newsrooms, we identified several growth opportunities,” the email continued.
“Thanks to investment from our parent company DMGT, we were able to expand our social video offering, a development that will be critical to Metro’s future success. We want to fuse this new capability with Metro’s trusted, fact-checked journalism.”
Consultation meetings will take place with each staff member impacted, and Metro added it will communicate with colleagues throughout the process.
Metro has declined to comment on the story.
The news of the layoffs follows a number of redundancies to take place at major UK publishers in recent months: the BBC announced up to 85 staff are at risk of redundancy in its product team, The i Paper said it was making 17 job cuts and reinvesting into “growth areas”, and Reach announced its editorial headcount was to be net cut by 186 across its titles – though this figure is now thought to be lower and the process is ongoing. Meanwhile, fellow DMG title Daily Mail enacted major job cuts in January in the final stage of its digital-first transition.
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