Lonely Planet slashes jobs at its Melbourne headquarters

    BY:RACHEL BAXENDALE 

·         From:The Australian 

·         July 18, 2013

·          

STAFF at iconic travel publisher Lonely Planet's Melbourne headquarters arrived at work today to news of up to 100 redundancies.

Footscray-based staff met with management this morning to hear there will be redeployment opportunities for some, predominantly in London, meaning a total of around 80 are set to lose their jobs.

Staff said they had initially been addressed at 9.30am by CEO Matt Goldberg, who simply told them there would be “changes” to the world's largest travel guide book publisher, founded in the 1970s by Tony and Maureen Wheeler.

Footscray-based managing director of publishing Geoff Stringer, who himself will leave the company at the end of the year, told staff the restructure would involve redundancies.

It is believed the redundancies comprise around a third of all positions at the company's Australian headquarters.

Staff at the company's affiliate London and Oakland offices are also expected to be affected, with the restructure focused on centralising editing and commissioning in London.

In March, BBC Worldwide, which had bought Lonely Planet from the Wheelers, announced it had sold the publisher to Nashville-based NC2 Media, owned by billionaire Brad Kelly.

Staff at the Melbourne office have feared redundancies ever since, despite NC2 executive director Daniel Houghton declaring after the takeover that there was “no reason to believe at this point in time that (Lonely Planet) would exit Australia.”

Staff said today the full implications of the restructure were not yet clear, but they would be meeting with management individually throughout today.

The jobs will go from the Footscray office's publishing department, with sales and marketing unaffected.

Several casual layout staff will also be out of work, but as they are not on contracts are likely to go without redundancy entitlements.

Lonely Planet said in a statement, saying it had “announced to staff and contributors a series of changes to its operations in response to a challenging external environment and to position the company for continued success.”

“Unfortunately, as a result of these changes a number of positions at our offices around the world have the potential to be affected and we are in consultation with individuals whose roles may be impacted.

“These changes will enable Lonely Planet to be well positioned for ongoing success and investing in the future in line with our 40-year heritage.”