In early August, Editora Abril, one of Brazil’s biggest publishers, announced that it would be employing massive cuts. Ten magazines were scrapped, with approximately 550 staff being laid off, among them around 150 journalists. While the news came as a shock, representing a bitter blow to the market, it was not altogether surprising to those in the know. In December of last year, Abril made 130 employees redundant almost immediately after Congress approved a sweeping labor reform, while the company as a whole is teetering on the verge of insolvency.
Abril’s case is not an...
