To: All Employees
From: P.J. Browning
Subject: Workforce and Wage Reductions
Date: March 2, 2009
Today we are announcing plans to reduce our workforce by 20 positions, or about 9.1% of all employees. In addition, we will move to a 37.5 hour work week for hourly employees and will put in place wage reduction guidelines for all salaried employees.
This announcement is a follow-up to the February 5 announcement by McClatchy that the company will further reduce operating expenses as a result of ongoing and unprecedented economic pressures and revenue declines.
These are difficult decisions, especially when it means saying goodbye to so many of our friends and colleagues. But we must make these additional cuts to protect the financial health of the newspaper, to ensure the success of our efforts to restructure and adjust to meet new competitive and economic challenges.
Reductions will occur in the Advertising, Circulation, News, Operations, Finance and Administration Divisions. Employees affected by this workforce reduction have been notified and provided with information about a transition package. We appreciate all that they have done for The Sun News and will do everything we can to make their transition as smooth as possible.
The wage reduction guidelines referenced above will be communicated today with each individual. Everyone will be provided a letter and will have the opportunity to ask questions. These wage reductions and the move to a 37.5 hour work week will be effective on May 4, 2009.
Our future success is the product of the hard work you all do everyday. We respectfully ask for your continued focus and contribution, even in these difficult circumstances. Thank you for all you do.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Sun News announces 20 layoffs, plus wage reductions
Memo from PJ Browning. publisher of the Sun News in Myrtle Beach:
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20 comments:
I was laid off today, as were some people with whom I worked closely. We'll work for 60 more days (thank you, Warn Act), so at least there is that cushion, plus the severance package. The saddest part is what is happening to journalism. The economy will recover, but will the journalism?
Yes, and "thank you for all you have done." What a crock of crap!
So in May everyone left is part time. Interesting.
I hear 2 percent wage reduction?
They moved some of the departments to the Phillipeans, then the announced the local paper will be printed in another city. They take our jobs somewhere eles and expect us to continue to buy a LOCAL PAPER! Now the editors are being cut, all that s left are the bosses Why not just close the doors and let a local small business take over and print the paper like Carolina Forest does (and
A time honored McClatchy tradition continues....fire the people actually DOING the work but the big fish get to keep their jobs and make bullshit statements like "we will continue to supply our community with the highest journalism around", "thanks you for all you have done" or in the classic words of our fearless leader, the boy blunder, the man with no plan, Gary Pruitt "you can't always get what you want" (that is unless you're in upper management at a McClatchy property). Hey Gary, a village near Sacramento is missing their idiot. They want you back.
37.5 hours is not part time, SacBee advertising has been 37.5 hours for 20 years, that is a cost saving opportunity from a long time ago at the company.
Anon 10:55 Journalism, or your type of journalism, is about as welcome as a turd in a swimming pool!
anom1201...I feel so so sorry for you. what a small close minded person you must be.
"Newsroom staff affected included a sports columnist, features editor, designer, photographer, senior editor, editorial page editor and features writer - seven positions. Leaves exactly one person in the "features" department."
Anyone know the names of these people???
Let us not forget about the dozen or so former employees from various departments at The Sun News that were slowly but surely suddenly terminated throughout the entire month of January (1 employee about every other day or so).
FACT: The January terminations in Myrtle Beach were done as a way to keep the layoff numbers that the newspaper is announcing today on the lower end. So today they announce their layoff numbers at 9.1% when it's actually more like 16% or so when y'all include the flood of people that were let go throughout January.
Yes, this is a fact. Were any other MNI newspapers pulling tricks like this in January as a precursor?
Who will be left to buy these products when companies are done outsourcing all our jobs? I've seen the quality of outsourcing and what it's done to this economy. Sure you save a buck for now, but the resentment, frustration and lack of quality eventually shines through, and then nobody wants your product and those of us without jobs can't afford it. Stupid companies are never going to get it through their thick heads what their doing to themselves by outsourcing.
I'm personally fond of the 37.5 hour work week because what journalist do you know that doesn't work a TON of extra time. Seriously - who was working 40 hours before this happened and how do you expect to work less hours with less people? Yeah - take some math classes HR.
I think its a 2.5% reduction for under 50 k and 5 for over, btw.
I also love how people get fired secretly and quietly escorted out of the building. Kinda like the holocaust. You go look for someone... oh yeah they got fired a few weeks ago.
I swear these statements by the "protected" ones make me wanna....well nevermind I'll get in trouble...
"Our future success is the product of the hard work you all do everyday. We respectfully ask for your continued focus and contribution, even in these difficult circumstances. Thank you for all you do."
How about you go screw yourself ____________ please feel free to fill in the blank with the executive editor/publisher of your choice.
anon 6:55 said, "I also love how people get fired secretly and quietly escorted out of the building."
yes I saw it in advertising and circulation. a handful of people and also the newsroom all within the first few weeks of January. people who you believed and were doing their jobs just vanished because they were fired or in the more pleasant term of management, terminated. as one of the previous comments said, the newspaper likely did this to prevent it from looking as bad as if it would have had they waited to lay them off with the rest of the poor souls yesterday because they can keep the announced official layoff numbers much lower. probably for moral purposes for those of us remaining.
more importantly to them though, it saves some dolllars because they don't need to give notice or an monetary exit package or extension of health benefits. what a great company we work for.
I left awhile back because the Hopi in me could "read the wind". I've never regretted it.
Those of you still there have my prayers. There are real people behind the words - regardless of whether you like what they write or not.
"There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces, but you cannot convince it."
The funny thing is they say we lost like 9% of the staff... this round. Over all I would guess more like 50% in less than a year. How long until the next round?
Look at what the Seattle P&I is doing.....
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