Staff at Emap have entered a 30-day consultation period which could see up to a fifth lose their jobs in a dramatic cost-cutting initiative.
The cuts are part of its Magazines 2010 review, which took in all of the group's consumer magazines as well as support services in advertising and IT.
A source told Press Gazette that publishers were warning staff that up to 22 per cent of them across Emap Consumer Media could be made redundant.
The source said that estimates within the company — from publishers to the human resources department — range from 150 to 200 job cuts.
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Another source urged caution with these figures — suggesting that the likely cuts after consultation would be a much lower figure.
Press Gazette understands that staff have been informed that they are in one of four categories — from safe to at-risk.
An email to staff from Paul Keenan, chief executive of Emap Consumer Media, sent last Monday, said: "Our next step will be to make some decisions about roles and people to achieve a more exciting and secure future for the business."
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A company statement released on Tuesday said the review would transform its operation and drive efficiencies.
It said: "The review within our consumer magazine business has come to a stage that we are now exploring the implementation of the proposals arising from the review.
"As a result, we are now communicating with employees about how we propose to change in the future, what we propose to achieve through these changes and how this potentially affects our magazine businesses and teams.
"Some people will be involved in a formal consultation process. Should the proposals go ahead, it is anticipated that these will result in job losses at the end of the consultation process.
"We are committed to communicating first with the people who are potentially directly affected.
"The consultation process will explore re-deployment opportunities and we will also continue to advertise and recruit for newly-created roles in the business."
A jobs freeze is currently in place at the company. The consultation period will end on 27 March when the publisher announces its trading update.
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