Lexington Herald Leader Lays Off More Staff.
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Herald-Leader lays off 53; cuts wages for remaining employees
The Lexington Herald-Leader on Monday announced the details of a cost-cutting plan that will result in the layoffs of 49 full-time and four part-time employees.
That is about 15 percent of the company’s total full-time equivalent employee base, Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said in a statement. In addition, some full-time positions are being reduced to part-time; other vacant positions will remain unfilled.
The cost-cutting plan also includes a 5 percent wage reduction for all employees who make $25,000 or more annually. Members of the newspaper’s executive group, including the publisher, will have a 10 percent reduction in salary, and their bonus plan will be eliminated for 2009.
The company began notifying individual employees affected by the workforce reductions on Monday. Kelly said the staff reductions will occur throughout the Herald-Leader’s operation.
“The decisions we have had to make have been wrenching because they mean saying goodbye to so many friends and colleagues,” Kelly said. “But we must make these additional cuts to adjust to the new competitive and economic realities and to ensure our continued viability.”
Earlier this month, newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co., which owns the Herald-Leader and several other daily newspapers, said it planned to eliminate 1,600 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force, as it faces declining revenue and a deepening recession.
McClatchy also owed about $2.04 billion as of the end of 2008, stemming mainly from its 2006 acquisition of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, the former owner of the Herald-Leader.
Before the staff reductions, the Herald-Leader had 335 full-time equivalent employees. This is the third round of layoffs at the Herald-Leader in the last year. In addition to the cuts and wage reductions, the company recently negotiated with the Newspaper Guild the right to implement a one-week unpaid furlough in the next year. Kelly said no furloughs are planned for the first half of the year, but the company may revisit that option later in the year “if financial conditions do not improve.”
...
Kelly said the Herald-Leader is losing “many valued, well-respected and well-liked colleagues.” But he said he’s confident the company will recover.
“We will get through this,” he said. “The Herald-Leader has been published under one nameplate or another since the late 1800s and it will be around for a long time to come. Print and online combined, we are reaching many more people than we ever have before.
“We will still have, by far, the largest newsgathering force of any media outlet in Central, Eastern and South-Central Kentucky. And the recent pairing of Yahoo! Behavioral targeting with Kentucky.com allows us to provide unparalleled penetration for advertisers — 90 percent of all online users in a 40-county area.”
Editor's comment: we hate to see anyone lose their jobs and we wish all affected well.
Herald-Leader lays off 53; cuts wages for remaining employees
The Lexington Herald-Leader on Monday announced the details of a cost-cutting plan that will result in the layoffs of 49 full-time and four part-time employees.
That is about 15 percent of the company’s total full-time equivalent employee base, Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said in a statement. In addition, some full-time positions are being reduced to part-time; other vacant positions will remain unfilled.
The cost-cutting plan also includes a 5 percent wage reduction for all employees who make $25,000 or more annually. Members of the newspaper’s executive group, including the publisher, will have a 10 percent reduction in salary, and their bonus plan will be eliminated for 2009.
The company began notifying individual employees affected by the workforce reductions on Monday. Kelly said the staff reductions will occur throughout the Herald-Leader’s operation.
“The decisions we have had to make have been wrenching because they mean saying goodbye to so many friends and colleagues,” Kelly said. “But we must make these additional cuts to adjust to the new competitive and economic realities and to ensure our continued viability.”
Earlier this month, newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co., which owns the Herald-Leader and several other daily newspapers, said it planned to eliminate 1,600 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force, as it faces declining revenue and a deepening recession.
McClatchy also owed about $2.04 billion as of the end of 2008, stemming mainly from its 2006 acquisition of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, the former owner of the Herald-Leader.
Before the staff reductions, the Herald-Leader had 335 full-time equivalent employees. This is the third round of layoffs at the Herald-Leader in the last year. In addition to the cuts and wage reductions, the company recently negotiated with the Newspaper Guild the right to implement a one-week unpaid furlough in the next year. Kelly said no furloughs are planned for the first half of the year, but the company may revisit that option later in the year “if financial conditions do not improve.”
...
Kelly said the Herald-Leader is losing “many valued, well-respected and well-liked colleagues.” But he said he’s confident the company will recover.
“We will get through this,” he said. “The Herald-Leader has been published under one nameplate or another since the late 1800s and it will be around for a long time to come. Print and online combined, we are reaching many more people than we ever have before.
“We will still have, by far, the largest newsgathering force of any media outlet in Central, Eastern and South-Central Kentucky. And the recent pairing of Yahoo! Behavioral targeting with Kentucky.com allows us to provide unparalleled penetration for advertisers — 90 percent of all online users in a 40-county area.”
Editor's comment: we hate to see anyone lose their jobs and we wish all affected well.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:57 AM
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