Seattle Times reducing news staff, offers employees buyouts
Dec 18, 2015, 10:38 AM | Updated: 1:59 pm
The Seattle Times building. (Linda Thomas)
(Linda Thomas)
The Seattle Times is offering its employees the opportunity to be bought out of their positions in a move to reduce its workforce and ease strain on its budget.
“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,” Seattle Times Editor Kathy Best wrote to employees.
The move is considered a reduction of force and layoffs may follow if the newspaper doesn’t get enough employees to voluntary leave, according to Best.
Journalism blogger Jim Romenesko reports that the Seattle Times sent out a letter to its employees on Dec. 18. That letter details an offer to buy out employees. Employees who voluntarily leave the company can get up to one week of pay for each year of service, up to 13 weeks.
In the memo that Romenesko acquired, it states that 2016 presents a tight budget and that the cuts are aimed at the newsroom.
“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,” Best wrote in the memo.
Seattle Times is giving employees until noon on Dec. 31 to submit an expression of interest.
“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,” the Seattle Times memo states.
The Seattle Times is more than 100 years old and is the region’s largest newspaper. It is one of the few remaining daily publications. In 2013, it implemented a paywall on its website.
Another major Northwest newspaper, the Oregonian in Portland, also faces economic hardships. It asked in November for employees to voluntarily leave, and is offering buyouts to 25 staff, ahead of layoffs.
Starting in 2009 the Oregonian started cutting down on employee hours and employees. In 2013, it laid off nearly a quarter of its staff members, and reduced the days it printed and delivered its newspaper to three days a week.
