Layoffs and buyouts at The Seattle Times

[Kolchak]

The timing couldn't be better. Merry Christmas everyone!

Jim Romenesko has the company e-mail:

As you know, 2016 is a tough budget year for The Seattle Times.

Thanks to your creativity, we were able to find tens of thousands of dollars in savings from expenses. But even after pulling all the change from all the seat cushions, we still need significant reductions in the newsroom budget.


That’s why we’re offering an opportunity for those of you already thinking of leaving the Times to do so with some extra cash in your pocket.

Attached are the details of an “Expression of Interest’’ in voluntarily departing. Those who apply will be eligible for one week of pay for each year of service up to 13 weeks. (The minimum is four weeks of pay, regardless of experience.)

Because this is considered a reduction in force, people who leave voluntarily also will be eligible for unemployment compensation, which currently is available for 26 weeks.

I don’t want to lose any of you and I know that doing so carries a price for our newsroom and for our readers. But we don’t have a choice if we want The Seattle Times to continue.

As the attachment outlines, you have until noon on Dec. 31 to submit your Expressions of Interest. We will review them and let you know whether they are accepted by Jan. 8. Some EOIs may be rejected if your position is mission critical.

It is possible, even with the voluntary departures, that we still may need layoffs to make our budget. But the EOIs will, I hope, minimize that need.

I know the timing for this is not ideal. But I hope that those of you considering leaving the Times will be able to use the holidays to talk over your decision with your families.

Here's an article from The Stranger that says the newsroom budget will be cut by 6%, whatever that means.

 

[JayFarrar]

Wouldn't it just be newspaper perfect to be told your job was "mission critical" and get denied, then a few weeks later get laid off anyway?

 

[silvercharm]

Sports hired two fairly high-salaried employees this summer...Bud Wither's replacement and a columnist replacement for Jerry Brewer.

 

[indiehead]

Sports hired two fairly high-salaried employees this summer...Bud Wither's replacement and a columnist replacement for Jerry Brewer.

And Matt Pentz has hardly been well received locally

 

[LanceyHoward]

What is the existing circulation? The approximate newsroom staffing?

 

[DanOregon]

In other NW newspaper news - the publisher The Eugene Register-Guard hired away from the Oregonian last summer is gone.

In holiday bonus news (Gannett edition) TEGNA employees (TV) get $400 for a bonus. Gannett (newspaper) people get an extra paid day off (which will come in handy when the furloughs are announced).

 

[murphyc]

I guess the news makes the timing of this column kinda funny. Not haha funny, the other kind.
Why newspapers matter, still

As for what DanOregon mentioned, a couple of links:
R-G parts ways with Editor and Publisher N. Christian Anderson? | eugeneweekly.com
Former <i>Oregonian</i> Publisher Out as Editor and Publisher at Eugene <i>Register Guard</i> - Willamette Week

 

[DanOregon]

Class move for a newspaper asking another paper to out a source.

 

[Kolchak]

What is the existing circulation? The approximate newsroom staffing?

The second article I linked counted 202 newsroom employees, but that's just going off of the staff listed on their website.

 

[Kolchak]

I went looking for this thread and didn't realize I had created it.

Anyway, it's the holiday season so that means more buyouts and layoffs, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal link there. They don't know how many positions they're cutting, but it'll be more than last year. Their current staff is at 178.

 

[BTExpress]

Their current staff is at 178.

That number seems somewhat robust for a 2016 newsroom not named The New York Times.

I know our once-370 staff was at 128 in South Florida when I left in 2011.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Thirteen weeks of severance max. Pathetic. And I thought getting 26 weeks after 36 years was a little weak. Guess I should have been more grateful.

 

[I Should Coco]

I went looking for this thread and didn't realize I had created it.

Anyway, it's the holiday season so that means more buyouts and layoffs, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal link there. They don't know how many positions they're cutting, but it'll be more than last year. Their current staff is at 178.

Unfortunately there will be a lot of this in coming weeks as newsrooms try to hit absurd budget targets by the end of the year.

The Seattle Times remains a great looking paper, but what also stands out is how few ads are in it ... especially Mon, Tu, Th, Fri and Sat. Again, that's true at a lot of metro dailies.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Thirteen weeks of severance max. Pathetic. And I thought getting 26 weeks after 36 years was a little weak. Guess I should have been more grateful.

I would take 26 weeks and walk if offered that right now.

 

[Old Time Hockey]

I would take 26 weeks and walk if offered that right now.

Understandable, because that's probably as good as any offer would get, but having been there, I'll tell you this: When they pay it out in one lump sum, the tax hit is huge. It's not nearly as big a cushion as you think it's going to be.

 

[BTExpress]

Not that it would do any good, but this late in the year, I would fight for that lump sum to be paid in 2017.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Understandable, because that's probably as good as any offer would get, but having been there, I'll tell you this: When they pay it out in one lump sum, the tax hit is huge. It's not nearly as big a cushion as you think it's going to be.

The other thing I underestimated: Many places take their time in the hiring process. I got an offer in late November for something I interviewed for in early September. Yes, six months severance goes away quickly. As it is, I'm going to have a four-week gap between the end of my severance and the start of my new paycheck.

 

[Bud_Bundy]

When Tribune Publishing did its buyouts in late 2015, the top offer was 52 weeks of salary. I think you needed something like 30 years+ to get that, which I had .... and I never looked back.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Understandable, because that's probably as good as any offer would get, but having been there, I'll tell you this: When they pay it out in one lump sum, the tax hit is huge. It's not nearly as big a cushion as you think it's going to be.

Good point. Wasn't thinking of it that way.

 

[ChrisLong]

Not that it would do any good, but this late in the year, I would fight for that lump sum to be paid in 2017.

They pay you when they want, not when you want.
My traumatic layoff was 20 years ago. When the HR lady was explaining it to me, I said, "So you not only took my job away, you screwed up my taxes, too." She was always cool to me. She nodded her head and scowled. "Yeah, sorry. That's the way it is."
At that time, there was a 40-day time frame to sign the papers. I was laid off in early November, while I was on vacation in Maui. They wanted it done before the end of the year.
After meeting with the HR lady, a few days later, she called me. "You were on vacation when the layoff was initiated, right?"
"Yes."
"The layoff was Nov. 9. When did you get home and get the paperwork?"
"Nov. 23."
"The only bit of good news I can have for you is this: If you wait the 40 days to sign the paperwork, that will push it into January and it might help you on your taxes. You are the only one in the layoff group that this applies to."
Rules might be different now. Delay it as long as you can.