Exactly a year after the merger was confirmed, Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) is all-set to confirm the detail of some major job losses, as part of the “synergies” hinted at the time of the deal. Markets CEO Devin Wenig (Reuters’ former COO) wrote in a staff email (via Guardian) the cuts would “eliminate duplication and generate savings”: “Over the next several days, we will communicate department by department the impact of our integration … these actions will mean an immediate reduction in our headcount.” More cuts may come later, “but they will generally be tied to a specific decision to stop a business activity (such as to shut down a product, technology or a process)”.
The merged company has a whopping 50,000 staff in 93 countries but, when the merger was announced in May 2007, CEO Tom Glocer said there would be $500 million in savings within 36 months, despite there being “less overlap than people think there is”. The scene may be set for the threat of a worker dispute – UK’s National Union of Journalists members voted in favour of industrial action, protesting what it said was Thomson Reuters’ insistence on compulsory redundancies.