Business magnate and politician Qasim Ibrahim's media house VMedia has decided to reduce operational costs through numerous redundancies.
VMedia is currently the largest private media organization in the Maldives, with TV, radio, online and publishing outlets. Earlier a magazine entitled "Weekly" was issued every week.
A letter was sent to the staff informing them of the decision to make some redundant. The letter was signed by Island Broadcasting Company's Managing Director and Qasim Ibrahim's daughter, Fathimath Thasleem.
It was informed that they had come to this decision due to expenditure outweighing revenue. Thasleema further expressed the difficult decision of laying off a great number of important staff members. VMedia consists of 90 staff at present, out of which 40 is said to be made redundant. Moreover, the 1.3 million payroll expense is believed to decrease to 750,000.
It was stated that going forward, VMedia will be operating their television station and online news short-staffed, and that VFM Radio would officially shut down very soon.
VMedia previously took similar steps twice, where they laid off a large number of staff to reduce operational costs. It is said that this was done then due to major financial issues in Qasim Ibrahim's Villa Company.
