By: E&P Staff and The Associated Press The Star Tribune will lay off 58 people, most of them in circulation, as revenue continues to fall faster than expected, Publisher and Chairman Chris Harte wrote in a memo to employees on Monday.
The lost jobs add up to about 3 percent of the newspaper's workforce, Harte wrote. Those who lose their jobs will get the same severance benefits offered in a round of buyouts last year.
About three-quarters of the lost jobs are in circulation, where the newspaper has made "substantial changes" by adding new technology and changing the way it handles delivery of the newspaper, he wrote. He wrote that managers would also be asked to find savings from non-labor expenses.
Harte wrote that the Star Tribune would freeze the wages of all nonunion workers, including his. The paper has about 600 such workers.
His memo acknowledged that the new job cuts follow a year of cost-cutting, including the loss of 145 jobs in May. "At the time, we thought these steps would be sufficient to stabilize the business, but our advertising revenue projections were too optimistic," he wrote.
Classified ads for real estate, autos, and jobs have fared even worse than the overall economy, he wrote.
An article at the Star Tribune's Web site relates, "In a previous communication to employees, Harte said total revenue declined almost $75 million over the past two years.
"The circulation cuts come as the outsourcing the management of home delivery to independent agents was completed, newspaper spokesman Ben Taylor said in an interview. There are also reductions in single-copy delivery, as truck drivers assume duties previously performed by other staff, Taylor said.
"The other quarter of eliminated jobs come from throughout the company, although Taylor stressed no journalism or ad sales jobs are being cut with this announcement.
"The wage freeze follows a freeze on the company?s senior executives, including Harte, in January, the memo said.
"These cuts are separate from the company?s hiring of an independent consultant, Restructuring Associates Inc., aiming at a labor-management alliance to look for efficiencies, Taylor said.
"He said management still plans a meeting with company unions the end of this month to share the Star Tribune financials, including the cost savings of these moves.
"The Guild, which represents about 310 employees, mostly in the newsroom, will negotiate its next contract this summer."
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