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Zee announced on Friday that it will layoff 15 per cent of its workforce across the company. This is a concerted effort by the firm to cut costs and financially secure the media firm, which faces an uncertain future after Sony terminated its merger plans with Zee.
Zee began the process of optimisation in March, when it set up a special committee to evaluate its existing verticals and identify and weed out expendable parts of its business. It was only a week ago that Zee laid off 50 per cent of its workforce in its tech centre in Bengaluru. Zee CEO and MD, Punit Goenka also announced that he will be taking a 20 per cent pay cut. Goenka took home ₹35 crore in FY23, his salary increased by nearly 323 per cent in the last five years.
“In line with his overall strategic approach, the MD and CEO has initiated the process of rationalisation of the workforce by 15 per cent, that will prune the staff strength across the company to arrive at a streamlined team that is sharply focused on the set goals for the future,” Zee informed the exchanges on Friday.
Goenka had proposed the plan for frugality, optimisation and sharp focus on quality in the investor call, after the dissolution of the merger was announced.
Zee’s financials took a hit and share price dropped significantly after Sony terminated its merger agreement with the firm.
Goenka has also proposed the elevation of certain team members across businesses, in order to provide them a higher level of responsibilities; besides him assuming direct charge of the critical business verticals leading to cross-functional collaboration, quick decision making and higher productivity levels. The detailed composition of the new operating structure will be announced after seeking the required approvals and guidance from the board.
Other measures
Zee had already let go of many executives in the top management. In March, Nitin Mittal resigned as President of Technology and Data at Zee.
Earlier, Rahul Johri had quit as the President – Business, South Asia of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd after a three-year stint. Johri was responsible for leading the integrated revenue and monetisation team.
Zee is going to divide its business into 4 core business structures namely, broadcast, digital, movies and music.
R. Gopalan, Chairman, ZEE stated, “The board has noted the MD and CEO’s steps being taken to streamline the organisation and the proposed lean structure. While the Board is in the process of discussing the same, the proposed structure certainly is in line with the strategic guidance provided to the management. The board appreciates the steps taken by the management to enhance the overall performance of the Company, reaffirming our faith in the team’s ability to drive the company towards its set targets for the future.”
Goenka added, “Building a simplified, lateral structure for the Company, will ensure that we maintain a sharp focus on Performance and Profitability as the key growth drivers, and the structure proposed to the Board is in line with this core thought. The streamlined team at ZEE will maintain a sharper focus on targeting higher levels of productivity to drive growth in order to generate value for all our stakeholders going forward. I look forward to the Board’s guidance on this approach, enabling us to pursue our goals more effectively and take advantage of the opportunities before us.” Going forward, the Company will continue to follow the three-pronged approach articulated by the MD & CEO, focusing on frugality, optimization and a sharp focus on quality content
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