McClatchy axes more jobs across U.S.
By Leah McBride Mensching, Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 16:59 :: Labor & Employment :: #2169 :: rss
McClatchy Co. will offer more buyouts at the Kansas City Star and The Sacramento Bee in an attempt to deal with plummeting advertising revenue at two of its biggest papers.
Mark Zieman, publisher of the Star, announced the third round of voluntary buyouts in an e-mail to employees Monday, but he did not give a specific number of jobs the company hopes to cut.
However, Zieman did state involuntary reductions may need to be made in addition to the voluntary programme, the Associated Press reported. Employees taking the buyout will have two options: to take two weeks of base pay for every year of employment, with a 26-week maximum, and three months of medical benefits, or 24 weeks of base pay and 12 months of medical benefits.
At The Bee, voluntary buyouts were offered to full-time employees Monday, but more layoffs are possible for the future, the newspaper reported on its Web site. In June, The Bee cut 86 jobs in cuts ordered by Sacramento-based McClatchy.
“It's about continually looking at your work force and looking at your economic projections and trying to bring those in line,” Bee Publisher and President Cheryl Dell said, according to The Bee. “We thought that we had that two months ago, but with the worsening economy, we just need to do more.”
Dell said it is too early to set a targeted number of cuts at The Bee, but about 44 percent of all employees are being offered buyouts, The Bee reported.
Earlier this month, McClatchy announced a wage and salary freeze for a year.
McClatchy is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States.
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