Thomson Reuters to cut 140 journalist jobs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global information company Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) TRIL.L plans to cut 140 editorial jobs by the end of the year as its Reuters news service absorbs Thomson Financial News.

More than half the cuts will be in Europe, while the rest will be scattered, Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger wrote in a memo to employees on Monday.

Reuters also plans to add about 50 new jobs in growth areas, Schlesinger said, adding that the news organization should have about 2,500 employees by year's end.

"When two similar and once competing organizations come together, there is natural overlap and duplication in coverage," Schlesinger wrote.

"Wherever possible, we have worked to minimize job losses and to avoid redundancy by moving people into new roles and cancelling open posts that don't fit within the new organization," he added.

Britain's National Union of Journalists said it had not ruled out a strike but would negotiate with the company first.

"The NUJ has been pressing hard to have any job cuts carried out through voluntary redundancies and will continue to do so," said NUJ representative Myra MacDonald.

Thomson Reuters had said it would shed jobs after Thomson Corp bought Reuters Group Plc for more than $16 billion in cash and stock on April 17.

Thomson Reuters, which employs 50,000 worldwide, could lose about 1,500 jobs in total, according to a BBC report.

Thomson Reuters is cutting as many as 650 jobs in its content, technology and operations division, according to a memo sent to employees by the head of that group, Peter Moss.

"It is important to emphasize that the number of people leaving the company through redundancies will be significantly less than this, with our current projection being approximately 250 people," Moss wrote.

Thomson Reuters spokesman Frank DeMaria confirmed the statements in the memos.

Thomson Reuters shares closed up 1.63 percent at 1,682 pence in London while its New York-listed shares closed up 0.80 percent at $37.95.

(Reporters and editors involved in writing and editing this report may own Thomson Reuters securities and are bound by the Reuters Code of Conduct, which restricts dealing in securities in companies on which a journalist is reporting)

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan; Editing by Jack Reerink & Ted Kerr)