The Lexington Herald-Leader Co. will offer buyout packages to employees in order to decrease its work force by an estimated four percent to deal with the decreasing advertising and circulation revenue, the Herald-Leader reported Wednesday.

Owned by the McClatchy Co., the Herald-Leader currently has 385 full-time employees and managers.

Written details were distributed on Tuesday, and state that the benefits will include up to 26 weeks' pay as well as extended health insurance coverage, the Herald-Leader reported.

May 23 is the deadline for employees to decline or accept the offer, and the company will have until May 30 to decide which employees will be leaving.

“This is a very difficult decision, not reached easily,” Publisher Timothy M. Kelly told staffers, according to the Herald-Leader. “We remain a profitable newspaper, we are just not as profitable as in the past.”

For the six months ending March 31, the Herald-Leader's average paid daily circulation was down 1.4 percent to 109,603 copies. The Sunday circulation was down 2.7 percent to 135,250, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported.