Government marketing freeze saves £6.5m – but costs 287 jobs PDF Print E-mail
The UK government’s freeze on marketing and advertising has saved £6.5m since June – but those savings have come at the cost of 287 jobs at the Central Office of Information (COI).
COI, the government’s marketing and communications arm, announced this morning that all 737 of its employees had received letters warning them that their jobs are ‘at risk’.
With marketing and advertising spend down 52% in the first month of the freeze, the COI says it needs to restructure “to reflect the reduced volume of work”.
It is looking to cut head count by 40%, bringing employee numbers down to 450. Voluntary redundancy is being offered at first, but compulsory redundancies will follow if the voluntary scheme does not produce the necessary numbers.
A 90-day consultation period begins today, during which time COI leadership will be considering the structure of the business going forward and what capabilities are needed to meet the priorities of the coalition government.
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