Waning revenues associated with the country's tough economic conditions have hit The Standard, Group which houses KTN and KTN News, with a pending mass firing expected to take effect in January 2020.
A reliable senior manager intimated to Kenyans.co.ke on December 17, 2019, that the company was planning to let go of a number of its staff as it repositions itself.
The media company is reported to have commenced the convergence of different sections of its brands and shed off the redundant workforce.
The exact number of those likely to be affected was not yet clear.
The firings are expected to cut across all platforms including TV, radio and newspaper divisions.
Some workers at the station are reported to be on edge over the impending dismissals as the management prepares to make the announcement in a few weeks.
In October The Standard Group had sought the services of a Dutch firm to oversee it convergence exercise.
The exercise involves merging the workforce of its various mass communication outlets which include KTN News, KTN Home, Radio Maisha and The Standard newspaper in an effort to shrink its wage bill as well as improve efficiency and synergy.
This comes just months after Mediamax limited, which runs K24 TV, sent home 160 of its workers include top and long-serving editors and reporters.
Some of those who were shown the door on October 30 included news anchor Mwanaisha Chidzuga, Swahili Managing Editor Franklin Wambugu, Deputy Managing Editor Ali Mtenzi, Head of Sports Torome Tirike, Head of Business Tony Timase, senior reporter Frankilin Macharia and Swahili anchor Juma Bhalo.
"As a company, we've tried everything, we looked at all the conditions including economic conditions and tried to minimize the effects of the proposed redundancy. We have followed all the due legal processes to ensure that the redundancy effect and the process is done in the best way possible.
"It's been a difficult one month for everyone and it doesn't go unnoticed," explained Mediamax acting CEO Ken Ngaruiya.
