Independent News and Media say there will be no more than 30 jobs lost as part of a restructuring at the group.

Staff at the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Herald and Sunday World were called to a meeting this afternoon, where they were told about editorial changes.

In a statement from the company, INM said as part of plans to future-proof the business, they would be implementing a voluntary redundancy programme next month.

INM has also announced the group’s s sports journalists will now be brought into a ‘sports hub’, which, INM envisages, “will be the largest single team reporting on sports within the island of Ireland,” according to a statement released this afternoon.

The changes will see reporters cover stories for all INM titles and Independent.ie – rather than working solely for a single title.

“We need to adjust our organisation and structures to plan for and protect against cyclical economic changes and impacts. It is imperative that all businesses adapt to survive and prosper into the future,” said Robert Pitt, CEO of INM.

“We have developed a roadmap that is both realistic and exciting for INM. As part of our reorganisation process, we have carefully examined best practice examples from around the world. The changes we are introducing will position INM as the clear leader in innovation when it comes to the delivery of news.”

INM editor-in-chief Stephen Rae said the group continues to find itself “in a very volatile and uncertain environment, more than that experienced in any industry in the last 100 years.”

“That is why now is the right time to move onto the logical next phase of our ‘digital first’ evolution,” he added.

“We are a content company ... but we are also becoming a technology company and restructuring the workflow around these two key elements will make us fit to deal with the challenges we face, to best serve our audiences, our people and our shareholders,” he said.