Ingrid Saar, Postimees Group's HR manager, told ERR that from January, "Postimees Kirjastus" will cut down on publishing fiction and primarily publish selected popular science works, including the "Postimehe Raamat" series.

"This decision (has been made) due to changes in the book publishing market, and a number of unfavorable factors - a decline in reading, a decline in consumer purchasing power and a rapid increase in input costs, especially the price of paper and printing. Publishing the current volume of books is no longer sustainable," Saar said.

Saar did not specify how many people would be affected by the layoffs, but confirmed that the publishing house would continue to operate on a smaller scale and with a reduced staff.

Postimehe Kirjastus OÜ was founded in 2021. Its predecessor was a book publishing house, which operated as part of the Postimees Group, beginning operations in 2015 with a reprint of Julius Oro's children's book "Muna." The company is owned by the MM (Margus Linnamäe) Grupp.

In its annual report for the last financial year, which ended on April 30, 2022, the company stated that the publishing industry faces a number of challenges. These mainly relate to rapid growth in cost of materials and staffing, as well as a paper shortage, which occurred during the winter period in 2021.

In 2021-2022, the publishing house published 70 books, including four reprints.

The publishing house made a loss of €102,000 during the last financial year, while its turnover was just under €400,000.

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