Gannett Co. Inc.-owned USA Today will lay off 20 employees in early December, as well as cut its 2009 budget, Ken Paulson, the newspaper's senior vice president of news, and John Hillkirk, executive editor, told staffers in a memo Sunday.

“We wish this wasn't necessary, but we're facing unprecedented economic challenges and we have to cut spending,” Paulson and Hillkirk stated in the memo, posted by Romenesko.

Those being made redundant will receive severance of one week of pay for each year of service, with a minimum of two weeks and maximum of 26 weeks, the memo states. Employees may volunteer for severance, and they will receive the same package.

Earlier this month, Gannett's Chief Executive Craig Dubow announced he would take a 17 percent pay cut as the publisher planned hundreds of layoffs due to plummeting ad revenue.