"It doesn't only sound like a big cut (in jobs), it is one," Mathias Doepfner was quoted as saying, though the report gave no concrete figures.

"Where we have digital growth we will invest and recruit staff... And where we have declining sales we must restructure and cut jobs."

German newspapers Bild and Welt will be affected, he added.

The cost-cutting plan comes one month after U.S. private equity firm KKR became the company's biggest shareholder.

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Jan Harvey)