The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has retrenched eight reporters from its offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to a union.
This comes as the American newspaper is reportedly moving its Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Source: Philip Strong on Unsplash
It will also be hiring an editor based in Singapore, along with other journalists in the two cities.
The scale of the WSJ lay offs were first revealed by the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE), a union that represents WSJ employees.
In a statement on Thursday (2 May), IAPE said it was “sorry” to learn that eight reporters had been retrenched from WSJ’s Hong Kong and Singapore offices.
The staff laid off had covered beats such as China, technology and markets, IAPE added.
They had more than 30 years of combined experience and expertise and won some of journalism’s highest awards, the statement also said.
The number of reporters and editors laid off in Hong Kong represents more than half the current number, HK01 reported, quoting local media reports.
It will result in the number of WSJ journalists in the Chinese city going down to single digits.
Source: Dan Freeman on Unsplash
Additionally, some reporters will be transferred to Singapore or other parts of Asia.
WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker had reportedly informed staff about the layoffs in a letter on Thursday (2 May). That letter was seen by wire agency Agence France-Presse, reported The Business Times (BT).
The layoffs were necessary as the company is moving its Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore, she said.
Specifically, she noted that WSJ was “shifting our centre of gravity in the region from Hong Kong to Singapore”. Other foreign firms had also reconsidered their operations in Hong Kong, she added.
On the staff who would be departing, most of them from Hong Kong, Ms Tucker said:
It is difficult to say goodbye, and I want to thank them for the contributions they have made to the Journal.
Meanwhile, WSJ would be creating a new business, finance and economics group in Asia, she said.
The section’s task would be to “break news and write ambitious and distinctive features, analysis and enterprise”.
WSJ is looking to appoint an editor to lead the group, with the position based in Singapore, she said.
They will also be looking at filling a number of other journalist roles in Singapore and Hong Kong, she added.
Also read: Yahoo to lay off 17 staff in S’pore as it shifts editorial strategy
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