The Olympian is shifting to a 37.5-hour workweek for all hourly employees and cutting newsroom jobs for the second time since June, Publisher John Winn Miller said Monday.
Miller announced the cutbacks in an e-mail to staff and later explained the company's buyout offers to 38 of the newsroom's 45 full- and part-time print and online employees. He said there was no specific quota or target number of jobs to eliminate through the buyouts, and he was unable to say what dollar savings the company must reach.
"Unfortunately, despite our progress, the economy continues to worsen, and we must reduce expenses further," Miller told employees in his e-mail, adding in person that it's something other McClatchy Co. papers have done since the June layoffs.
The Olympian cut 17 positions, including four in news and online operations, in June as part of McClatchy's elimination of 1,400 jobs corporationwide through voluntary and involuntary cuts. But those cuts were not enough in light of a worsening economy and falling newspaper revenue, Miller said.
More recently, Miller announced one-year pay freezes while the company adjusts to the cooling economy and shifts to a business model that emphasizes online news delivery.
The company also has consolidated advertising, technology and circulation departments with the McClatchy-owned News Tribune of Tacoma.
Despite the cuts and the recent consolidations, Miller said he thinks The Olympian, which has 180 full- and part-time workers, will survive as an independent news voice in the state capital.
Even so, newsroom employees felt a hit to morale, and several declined to comment on the record.
Update 9/9: Executive editor Vickie Kilgore's last day is Friday.
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