In what can only be seen as a stunning reversal by Macquarie Media’s new owners, Stephen Beers is returning to 3AW.
Nines’s new Managing Director of Radio, Tom Malone, made the announcement to staff this morning saying:
“I’m delighted to announce that Stephen Beers is returning to 3AW as Station Manager – Melbourne. Stephen has generously agreed to contract back to Macquarie Radio as we transition our business into the new Nine.
I have taken this decision because even in my first week I see what an important contribution Stephen has made to the success of 3AW in this city and for this community and we need his wisdom and support as we move forward together.”
Rumblings from within the station after Beers position as Operations Manager was made redundant at the end of October no doubt contributed to the change of mind, with Malone meeting with 3AW staff within days of his own appointment as Nine’s radio head.
Generally, it is an inevitability when business entities are amalgamated, that any 'replicated' roles are consolidated resulting in the loss of jobs.
Unfortunately during wholesale redundancies, valuable staff who could be retained are dismissed. It is not only in the radio industry. A management recruiter told me the example that in the financial services industry, that those dismissed "valuable" staff were recruited back to the employer, occasionally on a higher salary.
The recruitment 'back' of Mr Beers to 3AW is no exception. There is no information in the stories on whether this is a permanent or temporary recruitment 'back'.
It shows that the "baby", in this case the valuable operations manager, "is thrown with the bathwater", those who were made redundant during the consolidation process.
I cannot comment of the recent redundancy of Mr Hill from 6PR as I don't know enough about his case.
Thank you,
Anthony from suburb that once had the largest private telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, Belfield