Rumors swirl as LBC lays of more than 60 employees
The wave of redundancies at Lebanese media outlets continued this week, as television station LBC let go of more than 60 employees on Wednesday and Thursday. About 50 security staff and several technicians were made redundant Wednesday and a number of employees from the news department were dismissed Thursday. More LBC employees are expected to lose their jobs in the coming weeks.
Dismissed employees from the news department include such well-known journalists as Diamant Rahmeh, Vira Abu Munsif and Denise Fakhri Rahmeh, who has been working at the station for about 16 years. Media reports said about 20 of the dismissed security personnel received the red taxi license plates for their vehicles, with each plate costing LL 18 million. If confirmed, the reports could call into question the institution’s real motives for the lay-offs.
Justification for the redundancies have been reported to be because of the global financial crisis but reports have said they could be politically motivated, suggesting a dispute between employees who support the Lebanese Forces party and the LBC Chairman of the board, Pierre Daher. LBC has denied both possibilities, insisting the changes were made in light of the need for internal restructuring.
Well-informed sources were quoted in As-Safir on Friday as saying that the measures that were being taken indicated LBC was being transformed into “a solely broadcasting station with limited production capacity.” The sources added that LBC would become dependent on television programs produced by other companies, primarily the production companies PAC and Vanilla Production.
The lay-offs at LBC and its restructuring policy are reportedly based on studies conducted by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. The same firm evaluated the staff situation at Lebanese television station MTV earlier this month, where layoffs have also been made.
Lebanon’s leading Arabic newspaper An-Nahar has also discharged a large number of employees in recent weeks. The lay-offs have so far been blamed on financial difficulties, but media watchdogs have said the rights of those made redundant were not wholly respected.