Three more journalists have left the Standard Media Group ahead of mass retrenchments announced two months ago.
In the latest move, the Group’s Health & Science Editor Dr Mercy Korir, news anchor Sharon Momanyi and seasoned Foreign Affairs editor Lilian Odera have resigned.
Already, Dr Korir has landed a job with AAR Hospital as the new Business Development Manager in charge of Business Development.
The talent haemorrhage comes as the Group is planning to let go of a number of employees due to financial constraints it has been undergoing in the last few years.
In a memo dated September 30, 2022, the Group CEO Orlando Lyomu said that the company had been recording reduced fortunes due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as shifting media trends. As a result
“I wish to notify all members of Staff of the Company’s intention to declare redundancies in various departments. This has been necessitated by the disruption of our business in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to negatively impact the Group’s revenues, restructuring of the business to adopt a leaner, more efficient structure and shifting trends in media consumption occasioned by technological changes in the digital environment,” Lyomu said.
Read: Dr Mercy Korir Leaves Standard Group, Lands Plum Job
The media house, according to local media reports, has been unable to pay staff salaries for the past three months.
“Guys have not been paid for like three months. The last time we were paid was for August which was remitted in September. They should pay on the 26th of every month. There are those people who can’t come to work naturally because they do not have money,” a source told a local blog.
Standard Group Plc reduced its loss before tax to Ksh22 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to a loss before tax of Ksh434.4 million over a similar period in 2020, an improvement of 95%.
According to the media house’s audited accounts revenue increased to Ksh3.1 billion in 2021 from Ksh2.9 billion in 2020 while total operation costs declined from Ksh3.3 billion in 2020 to Ksh3.1 billion in 2021.
Cost rationalization continued to be integral to the company’s operations which saw the Group’s total operating costs reduce by 5% from 2020.
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