Telegraph Media Group is looking to making 50 journalists redundant – about 10 per cent of its editorial headcount.
It is a move which will, according to management, bring the editorial headcount down to 500 at the Telegraph titles and their websites.
In a separate development, journalists at the Telegraph titles have agreed to a three-year-pay deal. Under the deal they have taken a two per cent pay rise this year, 1.5 per cent in year two and 2.5 per cent in year three.
At a meeting of the Telegraph National Union of Journalists chapel today, staff passed a motion “deploring” the fact that management was planning to make compulsory redundancies.
They also called for management to open full talks with a view to finding alternative savings.
Journalists at Telegraph Media Group would told of the cuts in a letter from chief executive Murdoch MacLennan on Monday.
According to the NUJ, the cuts will chiefly come from production, the magazine supplements and the picture desks.
Explaining the decision to take the three-year pay deal, a spokesman for the Telegraph NUJ chapel said: “We are in an appalling economic situation and we thought it was best to get this side of things sorted and keep on talking to them about the other matters.”
The NUJ is also seeking regular meetings with management to discuss working conditions amid concerns about increased weekend, evening and early morning working.
A Telegraph Media Group spokeswoman declined to confirm how many redundancies were being sought.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog