STT concludes change negotiations – news and picture agency operations to close in spring; services to continue as normal until the end of March

As a result of the restructuring, STT’s news and picture agency operations will end in 31st of March 2027. The change negotiations covered 95 permanent employees. Current estimates indicate that 89 positions will be lost, including 68 journalistic roles. Around six employees in non-journalistic roles are expected to be offered the opportunity to continue working for the company. In addition, 30 fixed-term employment contracts or framework agreements will come to an end.

STT Communication Services (STT Viestintäpalvelut), which distributes corporate press releases and employs seven people, was not included in the change negotiations and will continue to operate as normal. The restructuring will not affect its staff or customers.

“Even in these difficult circumstances, we take pride in meeting all our responsibilities and obligations to our customers to the highest standards, right up to the end, while doing everything we can to support our staff. Next Sunday marks exactly 139 years since STT began operating in its original form. I see the closure of our news and picture operations as a tragedy for Finnish society as a whole,” says STT CEO Kimmo Laaksonen.

STT will continue to provide its news and picture services to customers as normal until the end of March 2027. In the meantime, the company is exploring opportunities to commercially utilize its archives and the technology currently under development beyond that date.

The restructuring follows sustained losses in STT’s news and picture agency business and unsuccessful efforts to secure a sufficiently broad base of owners committed to developing the business. Previous cost-cutting measures have not been enough to secure the financial viability of the operations.

“This is a difficult day for everyone at STT, and I am deeply sorry for what this means for our staff. STT has faced financial challenges for a long time, and we have now reached an outcome that no one wanted,” says Petteri Putkiranta, Chair of STT’s Board of Directors.