At Zee, over 70 layoffs in a day and ‘cost-cutting’ amid a financial crisis

It could be a meeting to discuss the Lok Sabha polls, thought a reporter who had been part of the Zee News Delhi bureau for 14 years, when he was called to the TV channel’s Noida office on Tuesday this week. 

But he was made to resign. So were at least 75 others, the same day, across the channel’s editorial team, Zee-Bihar-Jharkhand, WION, Zee Uttar Pradesh and the network’s digital wing, according to at least seven employees who spoke to Newslaundry. This continued the next day, with several staff being laid off, including mostly camera crew, they said. 

According to many of those who were made to resign, the management pointed to “cost-cutting” to alleviate the financial pinch at the network as a reason.

The total number of layoffs isn’t clear and there’s speculation that more will follow.

Several of these staffers said that they have been told that their dues will be cleared soon. But since all of them were told to leave without serving their notice period, there’s uncertainty about the final amount, and whether it will compensate for the full notice period, which varies between one and three months at the network, claimed staffers.

Signs of turmoil

There had been signs of turmoil at the network over the last few months, with Zee News editor Rajneesh Ahuja’s exit in February and primetime anchor Deepak Chaurasia’s complete shift to his personal YouTube channel last month.

Zee Media Corporation Limited is one of India's largest news networks with 14 news channels in 6 different languages. 

According to documents filed in the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company’s financial health has consistently deteriorated since September 2021, with profit being an exception in the months of December 2021 and June 2022. It had reported a loss of Rs 118 crore for FY 2021-22 – one of the worst years over the last decade. In an interview in 2022, its founder Subhash Chandra had said the company “fell into financial difficulties because of mistakes I made in the past”.

Newslaundry had earlier reported in detail on Chandra’s empire, including Zee Media.

From December 2022 to December 2023, the network’s losses increased from Rs 19 crore to Rs 36 crore, with the revenue dipping from Rs 171 crore to Rs 167 crore during the same period, according to papers filed before the Bombay Stock Exchange. The spending on salaries shrunk too, from Rs 67.2 crore to Rs 62.74 crore. However, the expenditure on marketing, distribution and business promotion saw a rise, from Rs 17.97 crore to Rs 34.75 crore.

Uncertainty about salaries?

“We had gone with the intention to work. We were called by the HR team and verbally informed about ‘cost-cutting’ and other problems and told that ‘today is your last working day’. Resignations were taken from us and we were given a letter, which says that ‘your resignation is accepted today’. You have resigned of your own free will,” said one of the four employees of Zee Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh who were asked to resign on April 2.

Of these four, one is an anchor, one from the assignment desk, while the two others are from the output team. “Resignations of about 70 people were taken with us,” said the staffer, adding that he is yet to inform his family. 

Some of these employees claimed that it was mostly old-timers and those with higher salaries who had been laid off during this drive.

“I have been working at Zee for 12 years. Salaries were never late but from October last year it was consistently delayed. Many people have still not received last year's incentives, which were to be received in April 2023. Some people were given incentives at the time of Diwali but those whose salary is more than Rs 1 lakh have not received them yet. An atmosphere of economic crisis has been created at the company for a long time. It’s still being said that TRP is very low,” claimed a reporter who has been part of the network for over a decade and is among those who were told to resign.

 Newslaundry reached out to Zee Media HR head Pooja Duggal with a questionnaire. This report will be updated if a response is received.