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Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 10/17/2007 2:13:11 PM
Title: San Antonio Express-News offers more buyouts
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From: [San Antonio Express-News publisher] Stephenson, Tom
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:29 AM
To: SAEN Exchange Users
Subject: Important announcement

Dear Colleague,

Earlier this morning I met with our Management Committee and announced we will be offering early retirement and incentive buyout packages to eligible employees at the Express-News. This offer does not apply to employees of Prime Time or MySanAntonio.com. The near-term economic outlook for newspapers remains soft. This requires us to take steps now to reduce our cost structure. Our goal is to reduce between 40 and 50 positions through a combination of incentives and a hiring freeze. If we don't reach the necessary level of cost savings we face possible job eliminations or layoffs.

The incentive offer for either the early retirement or voluntary termination option is two weeks pay per year of service to a maximum of one year's pay, and continuation in the medical plan for up to six months. You will receive a communication from Susan Ehrman with more details, including eligibility and instructions on how to proceed if you are interested.

Increasingly, we find ourselves to be a company in transition: one that is growing robustly on some fronts, while experiencing retrenchment on other fronts. We are, in effect, transforming ourselves from a newspaper company to a publishing company, with substantial expansion beyond our core product. In recent years we have greatly expanded our presence in niche publishing, direct mail, commercial printing and, above all, with our online news and information website. We're doing this to fulfill our mission to serve the community, to protect our franchise and to enhance our profitability.

Please accept my sincere thanks for all you do to help make our company successful. I'm optimistic about our future because we have a very dedicated and talented group of employees. We are fortunate to serve a growing community, one that includes hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers and a fast-growing web audience. Unfortunately, our industry is experiencing a period of disruptive change that requires us to reduce costs through this period of transition and position ourselves for growth in the coming years.

Sincerely,

Tom Stephenson
President and Publisher

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