"Hungary's second-largest mobile carrier Pannon has decided to shut down its link collection/news portal duo infosarok.hu and hirsarok.hu as of 30 September. This is only the first step in a major staff cut scheme starting this autumn, mfor.hu has reported on Friday.Pannon launched its two link/news websites in early June 2008, aiming to make them one of the Top5 sites in terms of advertisement revenues. It has now decided to discontinue their operation, saying that the current economic environment and its impact on the media market is not favourable for investments of this kind.
Menedzsment Fórum (mfor.hu) learned from an “internal source" that more than 100 employees may be axed at Pannon.
Pannon received a new CEO in March this year. One of Ander Jensen's key objectives is to stand guard over the company's profitability.
Mfor.hu learned that the carrier is also examining the status of several auxiliary activities although there is no decision yet whether any of these will be shut down.
In order to boost efficiency, however, Pannon may cut staff by 10-15% in the autumn months, rehire several employees as contract workers or lease back from existing suppliers, mfor.hu said.
“Pannon will try to carry out the mass layoff in several stages, inconspicuously if possible," the unnamed source said.
“Pannon currently has no plans for mass layoffs," the company told the portal. It added that it aims to be as flexible as the market and to this end it “continuously monitors and analyses the operating environment and will take steps if necessary so that our internal organization reflects the expectations of the market and the clients."
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal
29.08.2009