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Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 7/28/2008 9:59:51 AM
Title: Providence Journal buyouts memo
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From: Providence Newspaper Guild
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 8:41 AM
To: Providence-Guild@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Buyouts

Journal Offers Buyouts To Cut Up To 54 Guild Positions

The Journal is offering voluntary buyouts to about 260 Guild-covered workers as part of a corporate-wide reduction in force announced today by the A.H. Belo Company.

The Journal buyout program targets 20 job titles that the company has determined it are overstaffed. The company is seeking to cut up to 54 workers by September 12.

The buyout program provides 1.5 weeks pay for the first 15 consecutive years or service and 2.5 weeks pay for each year of service over 15. The maximum severance payout is 40 weeks. In addition employees taking the buyout will be given a payment to cover six months of medical insurance.

Employees who work 22.5 or more hours per week will be eligible for the buyouts. Employees who work less than 22.5 hours a week or whose job title is not among the positions the company has labeled as overstaffed are not eligible. Positions excluded from the buyouts include: Pre-publishing, credit office, house keeping and most online jobs.

If the program is over subscribed, the senior employees in each job title will be given the buyout. But if it is undersubscribed, the company will review the situation to determine if additional cuts are needed

The buyouts are part of a wave of staff cuts hitting newspapers across the country. Workforce cuts of 10 to 20 percents have become common announcements in recent months.

Company officials have told the Guild that they do not expect a significant turnaround in ad sales for at least a year. Until now, the Journal has avoided layoffs through attrition and tight staffing levels. But as the economy has faltered, these steps have not been enough.

The structure of the buyouts, and the exclusion of most on-line jobs from staff reductions, highlights the company's desire to maintain and grow its on-line operations, even as the print product is squeezed economically.

"This marks the end of the Journal as we have know it," said Guild President John Hill. "We will still have a quality newspaper, but it will be significantly different from what existed as recently as 10 years ago."

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