The State newspaper to cut staff, enforce furloughs

Posted by Simon Day on June 24, 2009 at 3:27 AM

Executives at The State newspaper said that six employees face redundancy and most staff will have a compulsory week of unpaid leave enforced before December, The South Carolina newspaper revealed on its Website on Tuesday.

The McClatchy company owns the newspaper and its accompanying Website, thestate.com. The paper has already faced cost cutting measure, after staff were offered buy outs and others laid off twice in the past 12 months.

President and publisher of The State, Henry Haitz, told staff on Monday that revenues had not increased the way the company had hoped, inducing the layoffs and compulsory furloughs.

"These are very difficult decisions as we try to maneuver our way through these unprecedented times," Haitz wrote to employees. "While I have confidence that our revenues will rebound, indications are that it will not be in the very near term and we must take these measures ... to ensure we meet our financial targets."