Updated: McClatchy to Cut 15% of Staff
McClatchy says it plans to eliminate 1,600 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce, as it contends with declining revenue and a deepening recession.
Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy Co. says the job cuts, which will start by the end of the first quarter, will come through attrition, consolidating and outsourcing some functions and will include about $30 million in severance costs.
The newspaper publisher also plans to lower salaries across its operations, with Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt taking a 15 percent base pay cut. Last month Pruitt decided to forgo his 2008 and 2009 bonuses. No executives will receive 2009 bonuses.
McClatchy’s release follows:
On Feb. 5, 2009, at the time of its fourth quarter earnings release, McClatchy announced that given the unprecedented deterioration in revenues and with no visibility of an improving economy, the company was developing a plan to reduce costs.
Today, the company said it plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 15 percent or 1,600 full-time equivalent employees as the company accelerates efforts to manage through an increasingly poor national economic environment. The headcount reductions will be achieved through severance programs, attrition and further consolidations and outsourcing of some business functions. The company expects to incur an estimated $30 million of severance costs in connection with these reductions. The workforce reductions will begin by the end of the first quarter of 2009. The plan also involves wage reductions across the company for additional savings.
McClatchy’s February announcement noted that Gary Pruitt, McClatchy’s chairman and chief executive officer, declined his 2008 and 2009 bonuses and other executive officers did not receive bonuses for 2008. Today, the company announced that Pruitt’s base salary will be reduced by 15 percent, other executive officers’ salaries will be cut by 10 percent, and no bonuses will be paid to any executive officers for 2009. In addition, the company has reduced the cash compensation, including retainers and meeting fees, paid to its directors by approximately 13 percent, and the directors declined any stock awards for 2008 and 2009.
“We have been transitioning steadily from a traditional newspaper company to a hybrid print and online, news and advertising company for some time,” Pruitt said. “The effects of the current national economic downturn make it essential that we move even faster to realign our workforce and make our operations more efficient. We previously discussed a plan to reach a targeted level of cost savings, but given the worsening economy, we must do more. I’m sorry we have to take these actions, but we believe they are necessary.
“While painful, we know these actions are working. Evidence of our cost reduction efforts can be found in our results. Excluding severance and other benefit charges related to our previously announced restructuring plans, cash expenses were down 14.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and were down 11.5 percent in all of 2008.”
The headcount reductions will affect virtually every area of the organization, but each newspaper will determine how best to implement the savings in its market, while retaining its strategic focus on sales, news and online operations. McClatchy said the company would work to ensure a smooth transition during the downsizing, providing severance packages to affected employees
