Teleradio-Moldova to axe 30 percent of jobs

Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) Company plans to cut about 30 percent of its present 1,119 personnel to 800 jobs. The layoff is projected by the Company’s Development Concept, presented Wednesday, October 17, by Teleradio president Valentin Todercan to the TRM Supervisory Board (SB). According to Todercan, the cuts will mainly refer to the technical support personnel of the TRM president’s office. In addition, several units will merge. This way, the Company’s administration will optimise the payment policies and the HR management, TRM president said. According to the development concept, TRM seeks to become the most reliable broadcaster by improving the quality of its programmes. The national channel Moldova 1 will broadcast 18 hours a day, as against 7 hours at present, while Radio Moldova will broadcast round-the-clock, compared with 18 hours at present. At the same time, TRM plans to open two television channels: Moldova 2 and TV Moldova International. SB member Veaceslav Ionita believes that the development concept should consider improving the content of the programmes and observing journalistic principles rather than focus on technical issues. SB Chair Mariana Slapac stated that the proposed concept will be submitted to OSCE for expert advice. Possibly the process will also involve Soros-Moldova Foundation and foreign experts. SB will resume debates on the concept at one of its next meetings.