UK publisher Pearson axes 4,000 jobs

LONDON - British education publisher Pearson on Thursday unveiled plans to axe 4,000 jobs, or ten percent of its global workforce, to combat weak demand, sending its share price surging.

Pearson, which last year sold the Financial Times daily business newspaper and a 50-percent stake in The Economist Group to focus on education, announced the radical restructuring in a trading update.

"We have undertaken a rigorous, bottom-up review of our markets, our operations and our financial plans," it said in a statement

"As a result, we are taking further action to simplify our business, reduce our costs and position ourselves for growth in our major markets."

The firm hopes to implement the "majority" of the 4,000 job cutbacks by the middle of this year, completing the cull by the end of 2017. The overhaul sent the company's share price spiking 14.8 percent to 754.50 pence, topping the leaderboard on London's FTSE 100 index, which rose 0.4 percent in early afternoon deals.

Pearson also slashed its full-year earnings forecast again, after a similar downgrade in October.

Source: AFP