More gone in Bakersfield...

bp6316 · Dec 4, 2008

Didn't get a chance to dig through and see if anyone mentioned this elsewhere, and didn't see anything on a quick search.

The Californian and one of its subsidiaries on Wednesday laid off 25 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force, in the face of sharply declining advertising sales. Seven of the jobs lost were newsroom positions.

Themove follows the elimination of 40 positions at the company in June 2007. Only 10 of those resulted in actual layoffs.

President and CEO Richard Beene said the cuts were forced not by a declining newspaper industry but by the troubled economy, which he said has slowed more than most had predicted. Ads from car dealerships and department stores are way down, he said.

Publisher Ginger Moorhouse said, “We want this company to survive and succeed, so we have to make the tough choices.”

U.S. newspaper companies of all sizes have slashed jobs this year. On Tuesday, USA Today, the nation’s largest newspaper, began carrying out a 10 percent work force reduction announced in October, the Associated Press reported.

A report released Wednesday by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said job cuts across all U.S. industries totaled 181,671 in November, the largest monthly toll since January 2002.

Beene said all workers laid off Wednesday were to be paid for unused vacations and severance pay afforded them by the company’s agreement with the Bakersfield Newspaper Guild. A union representative said the company was only required to pay one week’s salary for every year of service completed, plus two weeks pay in lieu of notice.

Added Guild President Steve Swenson: “We are all sad at the loss of excellent people whose only fault was that they were working in a bad economy.”

Company executives have recently launched advertising initiatives designed to reach out to companies with small budgets. The company has also instituted cost-saving measures such as trimming the paper’s size and eliminating some features.

bp6316 · Dec 4, 2008

I hear one from sports. Not sure who though.

Orange Hat Bobcat · Dec 4, 2008

I flew across the country in August to interview for a position with The Californian. I was not hired. I have no idea what I would be doing now if I was hired back then.

My sympathies to Tony Lacava and Ross Priest, who have done plenty recently with a smaller staff. Guess it just got a little smaller.

Tom Petty · Dec 4, 2008

Does anyone know who took the hit here?

Claws for Concern · Dec 4, 2008

This news sucks. I'm curious to know who's out at TBC. I'm hoping that the good people I know there are not out of a job.

bp6316 · Dec 4, 2008

From what I'm told, Simon Samano, hired three months ago or so, was the sports guy. Three folks from copy desk, a city editor, a metro reporter and the managing editor took a buyout. The rest were from out of the newsroom.

Garner · Dec 5, 2008

Just stumbled upon this thread and the news makes me sick. Samano's a great guy (for a soccer fan) and was doing some good work in his limited time there. Wishing him and everyone else the best of luck in a rough situation.