Reuters to Relocate 100 Editorial Jobs

By: (AP) Reuters Group PLC on Thursday said it will relocate around 100 of its editorial staff in a further shake-up of its news organization.

The London-based provider of news and financial data said the jobs will be relocated or reallocated as part of the company's push to centralize some of its operations around regional centers.

Reuters will add reporters in China, more photographers globally, and increase the number of editorial staff in Bangalore, India.

Some of the changes have yet to be made final, Reuters' global managing editor David Schlesinger said.

"We're doing it in a very careful fashion," Schlesinger said. "The priority was that the integrity of Reuters' content is kept whole and enhanced."

Editorial headcount will be maintained at 2,300, the company said.

Schlesinger said he didn't expect any further job announcements affecting Reuters' 2005 budget "as long as market conditions remain steady."

Reuters' cost-cutting program, which it calls Fast Forward, is expected to reap nearly $851 million in cost savings by 2006.

In October, the company said it would triple its staff in India by the end of 2005, turning Bangalore into a hub for its data operations while cutting back on data staff in Britain and the United States.

In November, the company said it would relocate 50 mostly editorial jobs from Britain and the United States to offices in Bangalore, Singapore, and Toronto.

Vicki Barret, a spokeswoman for the Reuters chapel of Britain's National Union of Journalists, said she is very concerned about the latest move, fearing it may affect the editorial quality of Reuters' news.

She also criticized Reuters management for handling the reorganization of editorial staff in a piecemeal way.

"It's what is not said in the latest announcement that concerns us -- we want clarity," she said.

Barret also expressed concern that Reuters may be considering eliminating its sports desk, although admitted Reuters management hasn't officially said it may be planning such a move.

"We're not considering axing sports," said Schlesinger. "We're looking carefully at how we do sports. ... We want to enhance our sport coverage," he said, adding this might entail changes on the desk.

The union has already held an informal ballot of members at Reuters over the company's plans. A vast majority -- 84 percent -- indicated they would be willing to take strike action to defend their jobs.