EXCLUSIVE: Future of Fairfax traineeships under question

Industry, Print

Fairfax may not offer any traineeships next year at its Melbourne and Sydney mastheads as cost pressures apparently take their toll.

The Spy Report has learnt management is seriously questioning its position on the traineeships, which this year were drastically cut to just four positions at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and a further four at The Australian Financial Review, citing increasing costs and whether the company is getting any “bang for its buck”.

The Spy Report believes the best case scenario for 2009 would be four trainee positions at The SMH and four at The Age. But in further complications, Fairfax Business Media, the division responsible for The AFR and BRW magazine has split its training away from the main Fairfax umbrella, meaning The AFR could offer more positions than the other papers.

Fairfax was criticised last year for lowering the entry standards for its trainee positions. After experimenting in 2007 at The SMH with a Year 12 cadet trainee for the first time in about a decade, the company did the same again this year in Sydney, and expanded it to Melbourne.