Press release, 29 October 2012
Metro to be part of Helsingin Sanomat, publication of
Vartti in capital region discontinued
The co-operation negotiations launched in Sanoma
Kaupunkilehdet on 12 September are now concluded. The
outcome is that free sheet Vartti will no longer be
published in the capital region and the site Metrolive.fi
will be taken down. Through the operational reorganisation,
27 people will lose their jobs.
The last issues of Vartti in the capital region (Helsinki,
Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa) will be published on 31 October.
Also, Metrolive.fi will be taken down on 31 October. In
addition, the remaining functions of Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet
will be included as part of the Helsingin Sanomat
organisation and Sanoma News' corporate customer
service.
As a result of the changes, 27 people will lose their
jobsthrough termination or through fixed-term employment
not being continued. The full impact is 19 man-years.
"We have re-evaluated our product range and operating
model in the changing marketing environment. Unfortunately,
the operating reorganisation also causes a loss of
jobs," says Pekka Soini, CEO of Sanoma News.
In addition to changes in product range and reorganisation,
changes in media demand are addressed through continuous
development work.
In January, Helsingin Sanomat will start publishing a new
free sheet once a week. Metro paper's development will
continue and Omakaupunki.fi will be updated to Metro's
online service.
Vartti Uusimaa (published in Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Kerava,
Järvenpää and Hyvinkää), Vartti Itä-Uusimaa (published in
Itä-Uusimaa region) and Vartti Kouvola and Vartti
Etelä-Karjala will be published as usual.
The reorganisation of Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet operations is
part of overall Sanoma Group transformation process. Sanoma
News has in the context of its structural savings programme
already told about the concluded co-operation negotiations
at Sanoma Lehtimedia and Sanoma Digital Finland. The
negotiations of Sanoma Magazines Finland were concluded
last week. Similar programmes are in progress in other
Sanoma units and countries, too. Our target is to be in the
forefront of the market development and secure our good
performance and profitability in a changing and
digitalising operating environment, said Harri-Pekka
Kaukonen, President and CEO of Sanoma, in a release on 16
August 2012.
More information:
Pekka Soini, CEO, Sanoma News, tel. +358 9 122 2000
Sanoma News is the leading newspaper publisher in Finland,
and its products in both print and digital format have a
strong presence in the lives of their readers. In addition
to Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily in the Nordic
region, the division publishes Ilta-Sanomat, Finland's
largest quality tabloid and Taloussanomat, the number one
digital financial media, as well as regional newspapers.
Sanoma News is also among the most significant digital
actors in Finland. Sanoma News is part of the Sanoma Group,
a strong European media group operating in diverse fields
of consumer media and learning in 20 countries.
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