Nine Entertainment
ASX:NECAustralian media company. Nine Network, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Stan.
Reported Offshore Headcount
46+
reported 1 Jan 2012, Fairfax moves subediting to New Zealand — NZ labour costs half of Aust...
Estimated % of Workforce
~1.4%
illustrative, not directly reported by the company
Destination Countries
Nine (formerly Fairfax) outsourced 70+ subediting jobs to Pagemasters and New Zealand (2012-2016) at half Australian rates. Staff staged 36-hour wildcat strike. Quality declined. Nine partially reversed in 2019 but only restored 24 of ~70 roles. Net loss of ~46 editorial production jobs.
Financial Context
Market Cap
$1.4B
Revenue
$2.6B
Estimated Wage Differential
~$4M/yr
Estimate uses avg AU employment cost of $110,000+/yr (incl. super and on-costs) vs offshore $25,000/yr (salary + on-costs). Actual figures vary by role, seniority, and location.
In Plain English
- In 2012, Nine Entertainment was reported to have 46+ offshore contractors and staff.
- This represents ~1.4% when compared to its current workforce of 3,350 (illustrative comparison only, not directly reported by the company).
- 🇳🇿 46+ staff reported in New Zealand in Other.
Based on data from public sources at the dates reported. Figures may not reflect current headcount. See sources below for full attribution.
The Story
- May 2019After acquiring Fairfax, Nine reversed the outsourcing and brought sub-editors back in-house, creating 24 new positions. Executive editor James Chessell: 'This will better enable the three mastheads to raise the quality of their journalism.' But 70 jobs were originally outsourced, only 24 restored. [Mumbrella]
- 2016Less than two years later, Fairfax moved NZ subediting back to Pagemasters after quality problems. ABC's Media Watch had criticised duplicated stories appearing on multiple pages. 70 jobs shuffled again. [Mumbrella]
- 2014Fairfax ended the Pagemasters contract and moved all subediting to its New Zealand office, 40 more jobs in the air. NZ labour costs were roughly half Australian rates. [Mumbrella]
- 2012Fairfax Media (later acquired by Nine) announced 1,900 total job cuts. 66 subediting jobs targeted to move to New Zealand. Staff staged a 36-hour wildcat strike across the SMH, Age, AFR, Newcastle Herald, and Canberra Times. [Green Left]
- 201280 editorial production staff made redundant as Fairfax outsourced subediting of the SMH, The Age, Sun-Herald, and Sunday Age to AAP-owned Pagemasters. [Mumbrella]
All facts sourced from public reporting. No editorial commentary. Click source links to verify.
Department Breakdown
| Department | Country | Headcount | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 46 | Estimated |
Other Media Companies That Offshore
Other companies in media with reported offshore operations.
| Company | ASX | Reported Offshore | Offshore Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|
| News Corporation | NWS | 250+ | 🇮🇳 India |
| ARN Media | HT1 | 85+ | 🇮🇳 India |
What Public Sources Say
All information below is sourced from publicly available documents and reporting. Excerpts are direct quotes. Click source links to verify.
“Fairfax ended Pagemasters contract, moved all subediting to New Zealand office. NZ labour costs roughly half Australian rates. Expected to save ~A$25M annually.”
Additional Sources
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This list is not complete, and never will be
If a company isn't listed here, that doesn't mean it doesn't offshore. And every number is the lowest we can prove, so the real figures can often be higher.
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This list is not complete, and never will be
If a company isn't listed here, that doesn't mean it doesn't offshore. And every number is the lowest we can prove, so the real figures can often be higher.
This started as an ASX 200 project and mostly still is. It has widened as stories landed from outside that list, so it now also covers employers that aren't ASX-listed, like Canva, Allianz Australia, SS&C and Crown Resorts, along with government departments and agencies. Companies get added when something surfaces about them, not by working through a list in order.
Australian companies are under no obligation to disclose where their work is done, and there is no register of offshored jobs. Everything here comes from something that surfaced publicly: an annual report, a modern slavery statement, a news article, a union statement, a government contract, or a tip from someone who was there.
So an absence usually means nobody has reported on that company and we haven't got to it yet, not that it keeps its work onshore. Some of the biggest offshorers say nothing at all. And because each figure counts only what a source actually stated, the real numbers can often run higher, sometimes much higher.
Every figure links to the source it came from, so you can judge it yourself rather than take our word for it. If you know something that is missing or wrong, tell us. Corrections are published, not quietly buried.
This profile reflects public information at the time of publication and may not match current operations. Is something wrong or missing about Nine Entertainment? Submit a correction. We welcome input from companies, employees, and researchers.