gannett plans to layoff 3,000 by december.

From an editor at one shop:

Cuts are coming and a list of names has been submitted. Not sure when the axe will fall, but it could next week as reported on the Gannett Blog. Not sure what the severance package will look like, but it could be half of the 26-week max handed out in December, and be a combination of unemploment benefits/salary.

Brace for impact.

 

We got an e-mail from Corporate this afternoon and I thought, "Uh-oh, this is it." But I was wrong. Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore was updating us on another matter:

Dear colleague:

I wanted to let you know that I have spoken with Craig Dubow and he is doing fine following his back surgery. I am pleased to report that he left the hospital last Friday and continues his recuperation at home in Virginia.

Many of you have asked how he is doing and expressed your well wishes. These have been passed along to Craig and he wants you to know how very much he appreciates your concern and kind thoughts.

While his doctors have told him to take his time getting better, I know he is anxious to get back into the swing of things. We wish him a speedy recovery.

I will keep you updated as Craig’s recuperation continues.

Sincerely,

Gracia

 

My first thought after reading that e-mail was, that I don't give a shit about his back.

My second thought was, these layoffs should be starting any day now. If they start cutting loose before July 4, that's a holiday they don't have to pay for.

If they make the cuts after, they have to give us that holiday pay, I think. It would be in contracts wouldn't it?

 

I guess ol' Gracia needs an editor:
Anxious: Uneasy and apprehensive about an uncertain event or matter; worried.
I think Dubow probably is EAGER to get back and continue ruining the lives of his dedicated employees.

 

I complained about the five weeks last time, but this is just as bad. The not knowing and wondering are agony. I almost with there hadn't been rumors and it was a complete surprise.

 

Mizzou, we need your sources to speak up.

 

I'll agree, this one seems like it will be more messy. Ugh.

 

A New York Times blog has a Gannett source confirming that the axe indeed will fall — sooner than July 8 — but with a "significantly smaller" number of cuts compared to the rumored 4,500.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/another-big-round-of-layoffs-is-imminent-at-gannett/

 

WSJ says more than 1,000, less than 2,000. None at USA Today.

http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/article/SB124640099819376069.html#mod=testMod

 

Gannett Blog is going crazy right now. Anonymous posters throwing out all sorts of news tips, trolls back in full force bashing Jim.

Some posters say layoffs will begin tomorrow not July 8. Hold on tight folks.

 

AP just ran a story saying layoffs between 1,000 and 2,000.

Excerpt:

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — Gannett Co. is preparing to lay off more than 1,000 employees as the largest newspaper publisher’s work force continues to shrink along with its advertising sales.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 people will lose their jobs in Gannett’s latest round of cutbacks, according to a story published Tuesday on The Wall Street Journal’s Web site. The Journal quoted an unnamed person familiar with the McLean, Va.-based company’s thinking.

 

I can't help but think of this guy... in a way

You can't be consumed by your petty differences anymore. You will be united in our common interests (to keep shareholders happy). Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for your jobs... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution (from your editors)... but from annihilation. You are fighting for your right to work at a newspaper. To exist. And should you survive this round, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as a paid holiday, but as the day corporate declared in one voice: "You will go quietly into the night! (with a security escort)" You will vanish without compensation! But we're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate your Independence Day!