Forced redundancies at New York Times likely

by Staff, Brand Republic 16-Apr-08, 10:40

NEW YORK - New York Times Company has said it expects to make newsroom staff redundant at its flagship newspaper as not enough people volunteered to take voluntary redundancy.

Bill Schmidt, assistant managing editor at The New York Times, said in an internal memo that the number of people expected to take voluntary redundancy will not meet prior targets to cut 100 newsroom positions, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

He said: "If that is indeed the case, as we expect it will be, we will -- regrettably -- be forced to resort to some limited number of layoffs within the core newsroom. We approach it with a heavy heart."

The deadline for the voluntary buyouts is early next week.

The New York Times Co said in February that it would need to shed the jobs in the face of a weaker economy and an overall fall in print advertising and circulation revenues. The company has seen its profit and share value shrink in recent times.

It has been under pressure from hedge fund investors Firebrand Partners and its partner Kohlberg & Company, which have been demanding improved financial performance.

The two hedge funds have amassed a 19% stake in the media company, and received two board seats last month. They have called for the New York Times Co to focus more heavily on its digital assets and sell off other businesses to accomplish this.

These assets could include the New York Times Company's headquarters in Manhattan, The Boston Globe and a minority stake in 2007 World Series champions the Boston Red Sox.

Read Gordon's Republic blog post on the US newspaper business: An industry in peril.