As senior Age business writers and political scribes scramble for the exit at Melbourne’s Media House, the cash-strapped company is looking to deal with the hectares of open and possibly tumbleweed-infested floor space set to be freed-up by their departures.

Crikey understands senior bean counters are in the early stages of deciding what to do with the space, with the possibility of whole floors in the seven-story edifice being hived off to a call centre. The Age is currently on level two with the well-paid 3AW talent sitting pretty on level seven. Level three currently contains sections and The Sunday Age and “half the time resembles a ghost town with lights out and empty desks”, according to a close observer.

Meanwhile, Crikey can confirm Melbourne Life editor Lorna Edwards has decided to leave the paper, following the departures of late night re-writing legend Tom Ormonde and veteran scribe/house committee activist Ray Cassin.

Edwards oversaw the popular back page of the paper featuring the pictorial insights of Oslo Davis and Andrew Weldon and the Postcode 3000 gossip column. More applications are expected with the redundancy round stretching for a few more weeks.

Fairfax spokesman Brad Hatch declined to comment on the space issue this morning.