Elsevier restructures and lays off 30 staff

Scientific, technical and medical (STM) publisher Elsevier is restructuring itself, and will see 30 redundancies. The review of working practices will see the creation of five new business units, and aims to improve customer relationships between the publisher and its users.

"We are introducing a new organisational structure which mirrors the communities we serve," said Marika Westra Elsevier , manager of corporate relations. Westra confirmed that Elsevier has carried out a "comprehensive strategic review" of its Science and Technology division looking at the changing needs of Elsevier users.

Roy Jakobs, divisional strategy director told IWR sister title The Bookseller that the company is shifting from being functional based to five business units. These units will be: journal publishing, academic and government, book publishing and sales, users marketing and corporate.

Elsevier has invested in a new query management system, online contracts directory and a point of service feedback systems to improve customer relationships.

Westra confirmed that 30 people from across the global company will be losing their jobs in the restructure and that they do not foresee any further redundancies.

Just days after announcing the redundancies, parent company Reed Elsevier announced that it is on track to achieve 5% revenue growth for this year and stated that scientific and medical market demand is strong. Sir Crispin Davis, CEO said, "Our business is performing well overall, with organic revenue growth building." The Elsevier division was highlighted for performing well with strong subscription renewals, growing online revenue and strong medical book sales.

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