Turner begins workforce cuts

Time Warner has begun offering voluntary redundancy to staff at Turner as part of its efforts to cut costs and focus on programming at the CNN and Cartoon Network owner.

Those working for Turner in the US who are at least 55 years old and have 10 or more years of service as of December 31, 2014 have been offered the “voluntary separation programme” by Time Warner.

Such criteria means the package has been offered to around 600 of Turner’s 9,000 US employees, according to Bloomberg.

“To support the company’s stated focus on programming, monetisation and innovation, we are identifying cost savings and shifting capital allocations to high-growth areas where investment will drive growth and profitability,” Turner told staff in a memo, adding that more staff cuts were on the way.

Turner Broadcasting System CEO John Martin, who joined in January, last week outlined plans to streamline the business over the next two months as part of his “Turner 2020” initiative.

This came after Martin told staff in June that the company was planning to assess “every part of the company” to strengthen its business.