“Citizens need to realize how threatened information is. “ This cry of the heart, they are the chosen ones of the monthly Psychologies that push it. On March 29, they learned that a layoff plan had been set in motion, and that it was intended to engulf an entire editorial department. When they leave their premises in the Stalingrad district, in the 19e arrondissement of Paris, to settle near the Place de la République, in a few weeks, the team could indeed be cut off from the model and iconography service, “Or seven people over 50, including four single parents”, indicates a press release signed by a majority of employees. Among them: 4 people on permanent contracts (out of the 32 employees on permanent contracts who make up the magazine’s team) and 3 regular freelancers (out of the 21 freelancers who work there regularly), the editorial staff also having 3 people on fixed-term contracts.
An information-consultation is underway, which should lead, during a CSE scheduled for April 28, to a negative opinion – purely advisory. The layout and iconography of the monthly will be outsourced, “Which represents a serious risk of attacking the integrity and identity of the security”, the employees are alarmed. “It’s a heartbreak, an amputation”, add the elected officials, who had to inform their colleagues themselves that they would soon no longer have a job. One moment “Particularly painful when we call each other Psychologies and that we have always been extremely attentive to questions of well-being at work, benevolence, psychosocial risks, etc. “, they note, bitter.
Accounts in the red
For the magazine, devoted to balance and serenity, the blow is all the harder because it is the second savings plan in three years: in 2018 already, the payroll had been further reduced by 10% (i.e. 6 employees). “There have been a lot of departures since; the editorial staff is empty “, points out an employee. Other posts in various other departments (advertising, marketing) are not replaced either. In 2020, the combined effects of a market “Structurally declining” and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, starting with the closure of Relay outlets, once again led to the accounts in the red.
“The turnover fell by 15%”, advances Sibylle de Faucamberge, executive director of the magazine. France paid circulation decreased by nearly 10% in 2020 compared to 2019, standing at 176,343 copies (data provided by the Alliance for press and media figures). “If we want to perpetuate the business, we must take painful but necessary decisions”, continues Mme of Faucamberge. While “Synergies within a group help to achieve economies of scale in the support businesses”, Psychologies “Does not have that lever”, recalls the leader.
In their press release, the employees denounce “the outsourcing, the uberization of [leur] profession ”, which leads“ to the standardization [des] newspapers’
Founded in 1970, Psychologies was successfully taken over in 1997 by Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber, who died in November 2020. Owned by the Lagardère group between 2008 and 2014, the magazine has since been acquired by 4B Média, a consortium of four Belgian entrepreneurs (including one operates the Belgian version of the title), which is also a subsidiary of the powerful Rossel group (The evening), whose shareholders “Have not received dividends since 2016”, would like to clarify Mme of Faucamberge.
In their press release, the employees denounce “The outsourcing, the uberization of [leur] professions ”, who drives “To standardization [des] newspapers, [des] trades, and [qui] finish[a] to this train by making them disappear “. They are asking for the suspension of this reorganization plan, certainly without believing too much in it for themselves, but hoping that “Readers, who are not passive consumers, realize[ro]What happens to “Psycho” “, and in the press in general, concludes an employee.