Chapter 512: Old Mo's Backhand (1)

"Boss, you call me." Eddie is as polite as ever, but compared to the messy and eclectic when we first met, he is a bit more elegant now, and his curly hair has been carefully taken care of by the hair stylist. stylish.

Yang Cheng smiled and waved, "I've been busy outside recently, and I don't have time to care about the company's affairs. Tell me how your layoff plan is going."

The embarrassment on Eddie's face flashed away, "Boss, first of all, I want to apologize to you. I didn't think carefully about this matter, and I didn't do it well. I didn't expect that when I announced the layoff plan in the company, there would be an uproar. With such a wave of opposition, my office is almost filled with various complaints and suggestions.”

Yang Cheng was expressionless. He had expected this kind of situation a long time ago, "Why don't you take it a little bit slowly? Talk to the employees a little bit, and let them resign voluntarily, rather than you directly announcing it and putting everyone in danger." Well, aren't you worried that it will affect their work efficiency?"

"Boss, you can rest assured. Since the announcement of the layoff plan, the employees' work attitude and enthusiasm have not declined, but have increased. It seems that they don't want to be the one to be eliminated." Speaking of this, Eddie couldn't help laughing He made a sound, obviously he didn't expect that he might make a wrong move, but he made a mistake and it became a good way to motivate employees.

"So, you haven't cut a single one yet?" Yang Cheng raised his eyebrows and asked.

"No, no, how is it possible? At least a dozen old employees who were just eating and dying were fired by me, without causing any waves." Eddie quickly waved his hand to deny it. He didn't want to be misunderstood by Yang Cheng.

Immediately after he hesitated, he said, "Boss, to be honest, I am skeptical about whether this layoff plan will continue to be implemented according to the current situation, because the sales of various newspapers are currently growing against the trend. We have not gotten rid of the state of small losses, but the overall situation is very good, this loss is not worth mentioning for the entire group, and I think it is very worthwhile to use this loss to maintain our current position in the public opinion circle."

Yang Cheng thought deeply about Eddie's words, and felt that it was not unreasonable, but how long could this seemingly beautiful situation last?

He sighed and asked, "Eddie, I think you know better than me the overall situation of the newspaper industry in the United States last year, right? Do you think our New Era Media can really stand alone in it, or even outshine others?"

Eddie opened his mouth, smiled wryly and shook his head, "I don't know boss, I can't make this judgment. In the whole of last year, the advertising revenue of the newspaper industry fell by 4%, to only 19.9 billion US dollars, less than 100 million US dollars. half of the year ago.

Among them, the print advertising revenue decreased by 4% to US$16.4 billion. As you know, boss, the income of newspaper companies includes advertising, distribution and other income, of which advertising revenue accounts for 57%, distribution income accounts for 36%, and other income Accounting for 6%, this situation is basically similar to that in 2013.

The decline in advertising revenue was not much different by category, with retail advertising down 5%, national advertising down 6% and classifieds down 5%. Data from several listed newspaper companies showed a slight 1% increase in distribution revenue, but it could not compensate for the decline in advertising revenue. "

After a pause, he added, "This slight increase of 1% was contributed by our New Era Media!"

Yang Cheng's fingers tapped the table rhythmically, gada gada, the voice was not loud, but very oppressive. After a moment of silence, she signaled, "Go on~"

Eddie was stunned, pushing his glasses, immersed in a slightly sad atmosphere. After all, he has been immersed in the newspaper media field all his life. The decline of an industry inevitably has some sad thoughts. He straightened his thoughts and continued, "Actually , all traditional news companies would like to capture a significant share of digital revenue, but none of them will.

According to the data, although digital advertising revenue increased by 18% in 2014, reaching $50.7 billion, digital advertising still accounts for only a small share of the total revenue of traditional news companies.

It is also worth mentioning that before our layoff plan, our peers have already taken the lead. Last year, the editorial jobs in the US newspaper industry generally continued to shrink, but the rate of decline slowed down, compared with the decrease in editorial jobs in newspapers across the United States in 2008. increased by 11%, and decreased by 6% in 2012.

In 2013, the number of editorial jobs in the U.S. overall fell by 3 percent, to 36,700, according to the latest data available. The proportion of ethnic minorities among editorial staff has remained stable at 11% to 14% in the past 20 years. The number of female editorial staff has declined slightly. Since 1998 when the statistics were available, the proportion of female editors has been between 36 and 38%.

Of course, these few data are of no use to us. We only need to note that compared with large-scale layoffs, the few people we laid off are just a drop in the bucket. Even if they unite to protest, ZF will not take all the responsibility to our family. "

Yang Cheng waved his hand, "We don't need to shirk responsibility. The company's situation is not good, and layoffs are justified, but we must learn from others. As long as we don't lay off large-scale layoffs, I think the ZF's problem is not big. The important thing is to control public opinion. We can’t let the society form a social effect that criticizes us for being ruthless and cold-blooded. Once formed, it will be detrimental to the overall image of our company. Don’t forget that we are going to be listed after all. If the society doesn’t like it, the stock price will be difficult to support.”

In the end, Yang Cheng is still an egoist. If the layoffs did not involve too many interests, he would not really care about the lives of other people. Of course, the compensation that should be given must be given, and there must be no less. Matter of principle!

Eddie nodded heavily. Now his thinking has undergone a qualitative change. He has become more like a CEO of a large group. The old employee did make him feel distressed, but it didn't stop him from walking, "I understand boss, don't worry, I will never let this kind of voice that is not good for us appear. With our current control over the public opinion circle, as long as it is not other people Several media groups join forces to attack, and we are absolutely safe."

"Very well, then, do you have any plans for the future? If you have any, please bring them up together. I can give you a decision directly while I'm here, so as not to convey it to me through Susu, and the time will be wasted." Yang Cheng was very pleased. Satisfied with Eddie's answer

Eddie hesitated for a moment, and instead of going straight to the point, he turned around and said, "Last year, there were frequent mergers and changes in the newspaper industry across the United States. Along with the dismal operation of newspapers, in 2014 several media companies including Gannett, E.W.Scripps, etc. etc., and more than 100 newspaper properties have been sold, largely to keep the still-robust broadcast and digital entities safe from the paper's financial health.

The most notable of these was the merger with China, both of which have experienced similar operating declines;

First Digital Media is one of the largest newspaper groups in the United States. It was also listed for sale in September last year. According to reports, it was acquired by Apollo Global Management. The acquisition has not yet been completed, and the progress is very slow. The overall operation of digital media does not meet expectations, and I am afraid that this matter will be left alone. "

Yang Cheng saw through Eddie's small thoughts at a glance, and glared at him, "Just be straightforward, don't go around the corner, which newspaper do you want to buy again? Can't you let me have a leisurely time?"

Eddie shrank his neck, how could he still look like an old man? The dog legs of the entire Yiminuo looked at Yang Cheng and said with a smile, "No, no, now the company's mess is enough for me, so I don't have the heart to buy another burden, isn't that causing trouble for myself?"

Yang Cheng frowned, and asked again patiently, "Then what do you mean?"

"The problem is that after I sent someone to take it over, I found that it was a sieve worse than that. Why don't we sell it?" Eddie finally bit the bullet, said his thoughts, and then closed his eyes and waited. After all, Yang Cheng tried his best to get the storm from Lao Mo, but now he despises Yang Cheng, who would be unhappy if he changed it.

Sure enough, Yang Cheng's face darkened in an instant, "Then tell me, what kind of rot is this? Make you so disgusted?"

In his opinion, assets are not good or bad, they are only distributed to whoever brings them. It’s not a big deal, but he actually disliked it. Just now, his satisfaction with Eddie fell below the passing line in an instant. If Eddie’s answer is not convincing enough after a while If the score drops to zero, then Eddie can pack up and leave.

Eddie now also knows that Yang Cheng is dissatisfied with him, but when it comes to this, naturally he can't back down, otherwise he doesn't know if he will be sold, he must be done!

Cleared his throat and said, "Since I took over, I have sent capable men to London to sit in charge. It went smoothly at the beginning, no matter whether it was integration or the issuance of orders, there was no obstacle, and the publication of the newspaper was not interrupted by the change of office. There were fluctuations, but when I investigated further later, I found out that the whole thing was a pit, boss, do you know that the loss of the entire Times department was as high as 72 million pounds in 2009."

Startled, Yang Cheng raised her hand and interrupted, "You mean the entire Times department?"

Eddie nodded, "That's right, including and, although the loss has been reduced year by year, and last year it was only a paper loss of 6 million pounds, but I felt something was wrong, so I sent someone to contact an old employee. Find out the truth.

It turns out that News Corporation has been passing on its losses to the bank and using its assets to mortgage loans. Now, the overall loss of News Corporation has reached nearly 100 million pounds. This big hole cannot be covered by ourselves. There is more than the loan needs to repay, up to £32 million. "