Telegraph owner warns of difficult choices amid UK layoff reports

Carolin Hulshoff Pol, CEO of Telegraph Media Group (TMG) since June, said the paper needed to “create efficiencies” to meet the new owner’s goals.

“Our ambition is to transform The Telegraph from a leading British newspaper into a global, AI-powered premium media and intelligence business,” she added.

Hulshoff Pol, formerly head of German tabloid Bild, said that transition would be “built on trusted journalism, direct relationships with our audiences and expertise that sets us apart”.

She noted the media group, which publishes a daily broadsheet and The Sunday Telegraph, would have to change “how we are organised, how decisions are made, where we focus our resources”.

“Today marks the start of a formal consultation process,” her memo to staff concluded.

“These are difficult choices that we believe are necessary for the future of the business.”

The Guardian newspaper reported up to 100 employees were expected to lose their jobs, citing newsroom insiders.

Bloomberg News also said redundancies were planned, but did not specify how many.

A Telegraph Media Group spokeswoman shared with AFP Hulshoff Pol’s email to staff, but did not provide any details on redundancy plans.

Axel Springer announced in April it would pay £575 million ($769 million) for The Telegraph’s print and online versions, after Britain’s Labour government said it would not block the purchase on competition and foreign-ownership grounds.

That followed a protracted nearly three-year period during which two other potential buyers ultimately failed to complete their purchases of the right-leaning title.

Axel Springer’s billionaire chief executive Mathias Dopfner vowed at the time to “invest significantly” in The Telegraph’s “editorial excellence and international growth”.

Telegraph Media Group has approximately 1,923 employees worldwide as of March, according to Revelio Labs workforce intelligence data.

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