{"id":96284,"date":"2025-07-11T15:18:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/afp-news-agency-to-reduce-headcount-foreign-network-costs\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:18:51","slug":"afp-news-agency-to-reduce-headcount-foreign-network-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/afp-news-agency-to-reduce-headcount-foreign-network-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"AFP news agency to reduce headcount, foreign network costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The chairman of Agence France-Presse (AFP)<\/em> outlined his plans on Friday to cut costs at the news agency with a retirement incentive scheme and a reduction in spending on expatriate journalists.<\/p>\n
Fabrice Fries warned last month that the group needed to save 12-14 million euros ($13.8-16.1m) by the end of 2026 due to a fall in revenues.<\/p>\n
Speaking to employee representatives on today, he said he hoped to save 4-5m euros a year with a retirement incentive plan in which 50-70 employees would leave and not be replaced.<\/p>\n
Costs linked to AFP<\/em>\u2019s foreign network of journalists would also be cut by around 3m euros a year, or around 10 per cent of the total, he said.<\/p>\n
This would be achieved by reducing the number of jobs with expatriate conditions, which typically include housing benefits and school fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cAFP<\/em> is committed to expatriation,\u201d Fries said \u2014 but \u201cnot at any price\u201d.<\/p>\n
An experienced journalist working in Germany on expatriate conditions costs the same as four locally employed early-career reporters, he added.<\/p>\n
Funding the cost-saving measures would require \u201cexternal financing\u201d, he said. That could mean taking a loan from the French state, rescheduling existing debt payments or a bank loan.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/em>, one of the world\u2019s biggest news agencies with 2,600 staff worldwide, has been affected by an ongoing global downturn in the media industry as well as several short-term factors.<\/p>\n
Fears about a global recession have led many clients to enter \u201cwait-and-see mode\u201d and either delay investment decisions or reduce their budgets, Fries explained last month.<\/p>\n
Funding cuts from the United States government under President Donald Trump have also hit AFP<\/em> clients. Some of them, such as Voice of America<\/em>, have been forced to cancel their subscriptions.<\/p>\n