The Sacramento Bee is giving buyouts to 87 employees, including 23 in its newsroom, the Associated Press (AP) has eported. It's the second time this summer the newspaper has shed jobs, as it faces significant declines in advertising revenue.
The buyouts will eliminate about 7 percent of the newspaper's overall work force and 10 percent of the newsroom staff, the Bee reported Thursday. The paper offered buyouts to 44 percent of its employees in August. Since then, 93 workers applied, including six newsroom employees who were turned down. Editor Melanie Sill says they held positions the paper couldn't lose.
Publisher Cheryl Dell says she will not know for another week or two whether the buyouts would prevent another round of layoffs. The Bee eliminated 86 jobs in June as part of a 10 percent cut affecting all papers owned by The McClatchy Co., which is based in Sacramento.
