The Seattle Times Co will eliminate about 190 positions by next month because of continuing revenue declines. In a memo to employees, which was posted on the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild website, Times Publisher Frank Blethen and Times Co President Carolyn Kelly said the changes will be part of about $15 million in budget reductions during the next two months.
"We had hoped the expense reductions made at the beginning of the year would prevent the need for further downsizing, but that is not the case," the memo said. "The only responsible action to take is to better align our expenses to the reduced revenue we now anticipate."
The company had 1,845 full-time and part-time employees as of March 31.
Some details from the Seattle Times website:
Vice President Alayne Fardella said in another e-mail that up to 45 circulation workers, 30 newsroom employees and 24 advertising staff could be laid off. The exact number will depend on how many employees choose to accept enhanced severance packages and leave voluntarily, she said.
Employees have until next Monday to make that decision, Fardella wrote.
Newsroom staff members who attended a meeting with Executive Editor David Boardman said they were told at least 16 employees in that department will be laid off, regardless of how many choose to depart voluntarily. Boardman also said the newspaper would stop publishing separate suburban zoned editions, the staff members said.
Today's cuts come on top of $21 million the newspaper sliced from its budget earlier this year. In January, the company said it was laying off 17 employees, eliminating 69 positions through attrition, and eliminating or combining some newspaper sections.
"We had hoped the expense reductions made at the beginning of the year would prevent the need for further downsizing, but that is not the case," Blethen and Kelly said in their e-mail. "The only responsible action to take is to better align our expenses to the reduced revenue we now anticipate."
Affected employees are being notified today, the executives wrote.
The layoffs had been rumored for days and came as no big surprise considering the string of bad-news announcements from the privately held company in recent months.
In a Dec. 27 e-mail to employees, Blethen said combined print advertising revenue for The Times and smaller Seattle Post-Intelligencer was down 9 percent in 2007 and had dropped more than one-quarter since 2000.
