EMPLOYEES of Malaysia’s largest media group have been given the option of a no-pay career break, a sign that not all is well in the industry amid glowing reports of the Malaysian economy.

At a town hall meeting yesterday at the Media Prima head office in Bandar Utama, Kuala Lumpur, employees were encouraged to go on unpaid “career break leave” of six months to a year, or work half a month for half pay.

Various sources told The Malaysian Insight that employees who had served the group for at least three years could apply to do one or the other immediately. Those seeking a career break will be able to commence leave next month.

Earlier this year, the media conglomerate introduced a voluntary separation scheme for employees above the age of 50 to cut operational costs.

Sources said the management spent the minutes in the townhall  talking about the challenge new media presented to traditional media.

They urged the employees to cooperate in the company’s transformation plan to adapt in the internet era.

“Right at the beginning of the meeting, the company management said that the industry had changed, and a lot of companies had taken this step (of offering career breaks to employees). Media Prima, therefore, must also make strategic changes.” 

The conglomerate recorded a net loss of RM171 million for the first six months of the year, compared to a net profit of RM45.16 million for the same period last year.

This was due to lower revenue from television and newspaper advertising.

It recorded a net loss of RM101.08 million in the third quarter of the year.

In 2014, it implemented a mutual separation scheme. Some 39 people, including several top executives and anchors from its TV stations accepted the scheme.

Media Prima owns a stable of TV stations, newspapers and radio stations. These include TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9, New Straits Times, BH, Harian Metro, FlyFM, oneFM, HotFM and KoolFM. – December 7, 2017.