Thomson Reuters Plans to Slash 3,200 Jobs in Next Two Years

By Kimberly Chin

Thomson Reuters Corp. plans to shed 3,200 jobs over the next two years as part of a pivot toward providing software services over producing content.

Thomson Reuters, which provides tools for corporate, legal and tax professionals and operates Reuters News, said Tuesday it would reduce its global staff by about 12% from current levels and its global office footprint by 30% by 2020. The planned head count would bring its staff to 23,800 from 27,000 currently. The company didn't say where the cuts would be made.

It also plans to shrink its number of offices to 133, from the 2012 count of 517.

Shares in the company were up 2.1% to $50.87 in midday trading after the company made the announcement during an investor event.

The company said that the workforce reduction is part of a plan to run a leaner organization following the roughly $20 billion sale of a majority stake of its Financial & Risk business, which includes the financial-services terminal Eikon, to private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP.

About 87% of Thomson Reuters's revenue is delivered electronically or from its software and services business. Thomson Reuters said it sees an opportunity to expand its share in a content and software services market that is expected to grow to about $44 billion annually from about $32 billion today.

Reuters News, whose roots date to 1851, makes up a small share of Thomson Reuters's total revenue. Last year, the unit accounted for about $300 million in revenue, or less than 6% of the 2017 total of $5.3 billion.

Reuters News competes with Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in providing financial news and information.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2018 13:02 ET (18:02 GMT)

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