Egmont Publishing, a leading media corporation in Scandinavia, will now outsource their Danish layout department to Vietnam. From January 2016 11 Danish magazines and four weekly newspapers from Egmont Publishing will have their layout done in Vietnam by the Danish-owned company Minh Graphic in Ho Chi Minh City. In Denmark, it means 13 Danes will lose their jobs.
Difficult market conditions made Egmont Publishing reorganize their distribution of tasks. Geographically.
Tuesday morning 18 August 2015 a press release from Egmont Publishing stated their layout and graphic tasks will be moved to Vietnam next year.
”We have chosen to act in a very good time so we can ensure our publications’ high quality in the future”, says Klaus Høeg-Hagensen, the company’s CEO.
In Vietnam, Minh Graphic is pleased with the deal.
”We are so happy for the task. It will definitely create more jobs”, says Thomas Frederiksen, the managing director in Minh Graphic. Minh Graphic is owned by the Danish companies Buchs and Envision.
By moving the layout department to Vietnam Egmont Publishing anticipates to save millions of Danish kroner which is necessary in order for the business to survive.
”The market is under pressure, and we don’t want to compromise the quality of the content, which are the trademark of Egmont. But we have to rectify our production to where it makes sense”, says Klaus Høeg-Hagensen in the press release. He adds ”a certain part of the layout and the visual development by the individual titles will still be intern handled in the different editorial staffs which will continue to have an Art Director, while the bigger weekly magazines also will have one or more assistent Art Directors on their editorial staff.”
The outsourcing made the editor in chief from Euroman Kasper Steenbach quit his job in protest. He does not agree with the strategy about moving such a significant department as layout outside Denmark. But Klaus Høeg-Hansen believes the decision is for the best for the Danish media giant.
”It’s never an easy solution to say goodbye to talented employees. But it is important to do a partly outsourcing if Egmont should remain its strong position as publisher of the best weekly papers and magazines in Denmark”, says the CEO of Egmont Publishing.
Sources: www.finans.dk www.newsjs.com www.journalisten.dk
