But I think something bigger may be afoot, involving a more sweeping round of cost cuts -- all timed to the fourth-quarter earnings release in perhaps two weeks. Gannett hopes to report good traffic results for the ContentOne Obama inauguration trial run. Plus, there would be more payroll savings to trumpet, assuming this mandatory week-off plan comes to pass.But unless there's surprise good news on revenue or expenses, CEO Craig Dubow will likely need to gin up something more to offer impatient investors. For that reason, I wonder if Corporate is planning a more dramatic round of trimming print newspapers.
This might entail shuttering entire news or features sections, in favor of websites and mobile devices. It could mean a bigger ramp-up of the ContentOne web-based news service. (Or is it a web-pagination program, allowing one editor to post a Britney Spears story and photo simultaneously on all 85 U.S. newspaper websites?)
SOMETHING is happening on Wednesday. It is either this or more position eliminations. We'll know more in about 12 hours.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather they hack me off, than hack off more of my pay.
ReplyDeleteLET ME GO ALREADY!!!
11:26; HOW do you know this? please, share something! I can't take another round of this waiting.
ReplyDeleteAn announcement like this would likely be made before major stock markets open, or after they close. That means newspaper division chief Bob Dickey could send a memo to employees before 9:30 a.m. ET, or after 1 p.m. ET.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I could have bad sources!
I have a proble with doing this just so gannett can keep up with there dividend payments.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope this unpaid time also includes the salaried/managment positions?
Also I wonder if you could draw unemployment for this unpaid time off?
Will it qualify for a hardship withdrawl from my 401k?
I've been told an announcement is coming tomorrow, but not what that announcement is. Vague enough for you? Sorry, but that's all I have.
ReplyDeleteIn NJ, I'm pretty sure a week of unpaid leave would qualify you for unemployment. It's a weeklong layoff.
ReplyDeleteYou can file online and report precisely which week you'll be laid off work for the week. Lord only knows when you'll get the UI money, though.
After six weeks of eligibility, I've only received three weeks' insurance checks, and only partial checks, because am waiting for my proofs of my dependents to catch up.
About unemployment, I knew some factory workers who got unemployment every time the work place had short shutdowns. Hope that's true for the Gannett shops.
ReplyDelete12:01, I get it. It's the Gannett way.
ReplyDeleteThe writing is on the wall;
ReplyDeleteLAYOFFS
UNPAID WEEKS OFF
CIRCULATION DECLINING SHARPLY
OUTSOURCING
MORE LAYOFFS
CENTRALIZATION
CONSOLIDATION
CONTENT SHARING
LAYOFFS MORE FREQUENTLY
TEMPLATES
POOR LEADERSHIP
INCOMPETENT MANAGEMENT
$89 STOCK NOW AT $8
GCI is not going to survive
If this is true, everyone needs to be firm in not working or checking their e-mail during this unpaid week off.
ReplyDeleteIt sure as shit better include salaried workers! I'd take a week in a heartbeat. Gimme two.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jim, the announcements, via e-mail, usually arrive at our site somewhere around 1-1:30 p.m., CT.
12:52: whether or not you check email on a week-long furlough is small change. The bigger worry is whether the company will be able to pay out its owed 401k and pension money it owes people. If I were someone laid off recently or coming, I'd get that money in your hands as soon as you can.
ReplyDeleteSuppose Neuharth will have to sit out and miss a week of pay?
ReplyDeleteI hear an unpaid week off could include everyone, including publishers.
ReplyDeleteBest bet is to temporarily suspend the dividend.
ReplyDeleteWhen the investors who have kept GCI because of the dividend divest and drive stock to $5, the cash we saved by not paying out should be used to buy back stock and/or reduce debt.
It's a bit of medicine to ensure that our commercial paper doesn't put us out of business - and by getting rid of investors who don't understand our cycles, we give ourselves some breathing room to ride out the recession.
I have no problem with taking a week off if it means saving mine along with other peoples jobs in a time like this. However... They should start with senior management like the ones that approved all the lavish spending to bring in people from all over and put them up for 4 days at the Ritz, bringing in a casino, taking everyone to DC and other things for a week at the tune of well into six figures!
ReplyDeleteLets be for real here people! Cut the wasteful spending and the pampering of all the execs and see how much money Gannett will save as a whole!
I guess one week of no pay would be a good thing as opposed to being laid off completely, but something tells me that we will all take a week off and then just get laid off anyway a few weeks later. I do not trust Mr. Dubow anymore. This behavior certainly means that Gannett is in some serious financial trouble.
ReplyDeleteThey MUST cut that fat dividend.
How do you justify to your employees that you would rather pay the fat cat Wall St investors than pay your own employees!
To Mr. Dubow and Ms. Martore,
Fuck Wall St and start focusing on your factors of production. Your employees make this company, not the losers that buy our stock! Pull your head out of your asses!
Something tells me that while we're all out on unpaid leave, Gracia and friends will still be in the building, keeping everything safe for all of us involuntary vacationers. They'll be getting paid, of course...
ReplyDeleteTaking a week's pay away from so many people who are already underpaid just seems criminal.
ReplyDeleteI know it's better than a layoff, but it's as if Gannett believes in death by a thousand cuts.
Gee, thanks, Jim... now the bigwigs'll put the announcement off a day just to prove you wrong. ;-) Kidding! Though I wouldn't put it past the bastards.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSuppose Neuharth will have to sit out and miss a week of pay?
1/14/2009 1:17 AM
We all wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Neuharth!
How much do you want to bet that the Dubow/Martore dividend income from vested shares far surpasses any pay cuts or unpaid time that will be imposed on them this year? There's a reason that they don't want to buckle down on the dividend during a time when the company needs all the cash it can get: personal gain.
ReplyDeleteAt a time when we are abrogating valid contracts with vendors to conserve cash, how about suspending all the sweetheart payouts to Al, Doug and all the other pigs at the trough? They were compensated well when they were actually contributing (laughable, I know) to the growth of the company. Now they contribute nothing and should receive nothing, especially when GCI is fighting for its life.
And for the pair on the 11th floor: How about taking only $50,000 each in total comp for 2009? If you believe in this company, put your money where the rest of us are putting ours!
If it includes everyone, I am wondering how the paper will get out. Do we even care about that? A week off would be great -- haven't had one of those in years -- but missing pay would kill me.
ReplyDeleteIf it's true that employees would be eligible for unemployment during the time off, wouldn't Gannett actually stand to lose more than it gains by doing this since the action would impact claims history, and possibly unemployment tax rates?
ReplyDeleteThat would make a great news story for someone.
How will GCI sugarcoat this one? We are all screwed. Gannett should of been more upfront with us a year ago when there was still somewhat of a job market. There is absolutely no jobs out there now. They have us by the balls, they pull this shit because they can. We are stuck with this sinking company.
ReplyDeleteMETROMIX to the rescue !!!
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't the company freeze salaries for a year? Or maybe ask those in the management bonus program to forgo their bonuses? I have a friend who is slated to get a $15,000 bonus next month. One of those could foot the bill for a week's worth of pay for (depending on salary) at least 10-20 people. Now multiply that by all those scheduled for bonuses ... I also know of people who volunteered to go part-time to save positions in the last round of cut but who were turned down.
ReplyDeleteThe EE at my newspaper said (privately) to expect another round of cuts in February.
ReplyDeleteSo it goes.
It's been a weird six months for me. My newspaper, of course, has been hacked to shreds from a personnel standpoint. The other papers in my state haven't made cuts, aren't restricting travel and really aren't operating differently than they did two years ago.
Why is that? Something seems fishy.
Regarding unemployment comp on an unpaid week -- remember, in most states you have to serve a waiting week before you get a check. Go ahead and file for unemployment and get that waiting week out of the way in case everyone's getting more weeks off in other quarters (assuming people still have jobs, that is).
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, sounds like another nail in the coffin. With the erosion of print this company has failed in it's digital strategy. Limited foresight and reactionary moves left Gannett in the dust trail of the digital movement. Sad to see a company once so wealthy and powerful teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteTher is defenitely a buz going around here today. They say they are going to make the announcement before 11AM. ??? We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the week, happily, if it meant any real improvement in the health of the company and our industry. Unfortunately, I fear it only delays the inevitable.
ReplyDeleteJim is going to be proven right, if not today, then sometime over the next six months of so as the economic collapse becomes clear. Forecasts I am reading are now saying there will be a decline in national production (a recession) for all of 2009, not the recovery in the second half that some have predicted. What this means for us is more cuts, more reductions, more savings every month that the recession lasts. Corporate is determined to cut their way to profitability. Cutting the dividend makes sense, but I see that as a last resort because it would cause the stock to collapse even more. What I do see is more centralization of operations previously done in the 85 papers, and that means features and news driven out of the Crystal Towers. This means uniform features GCI-wide, and uniform sports and national-foreign news pages. McLean will also take over the coordinating/placement of national ads that will run in these pages.
ReplyDeleteWould this week be counted as one of your vacation weeks, or would those remain intact? For example, I get two vacation weeks each year. So if I have to take this unpaid week, does that mean I just have one week remaining or two?
ReplyDeleteAny word on the health of the company's retirement plans? I recall someone saying months ago it would take until the end of the year to come up with those numbers.
ReplyDeletemy concern being with only 2.5 months left within this quarter how could our paper, let alone all the others, survive with everyone out for a week at a time? Product suffers and circulation struggles as a result, which all leads to one thing less advertising = no paper.
ReplyDeleteGCI maintained its dividend through the Great Depression, so I do not see Corporate daring to do anything with the dividend during this recession. The dividend is sacrosant.
ReplyDeleteOn the vacation question: no. They want to save money, so they don't want to pay you for the one week whether you are working or on vacation. It will be an unpaid week, or maybe longer than a week.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's just this quarter and not the remaining three. That would be impossible for some folks, I fear.
ReplyDeleteNo, 11:18, get used to it. Once they try out the furlough idea, they will do it again in every down quarter of the year. Make your adjustments now in preparation, because it will happen. If the economy is going as bad as I think it will, then you will be thankful to have even the reduced paycheck.
ReplyDelete9:07, at least in NJ, where I'm pretty sure the weeklong layoffs would be covered under unemployment insurance, I think it would hurt GCI financially very much to dump so many (maybe 1,000 or more?) people into the system. And it wouldn't even be efficient for the state UI system to do the paperwork for all the people for one week. Think about the real cost to the system.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I agree with the person who said if this is the plan, for now, it is indicative of a bigger problem with funds on hand in pension and 401k. The weeklong layoffs' biggest advantage seems to be to prevent more cashouts. No one I know who took buyout or who were laid off are leaving a cent in GCI management. No one has faith in the Dubow/Martore management.
9:04 AM wrote:
ReplyDelete"A week off would be great -- haven't had one of those in years -- but missing pay would kill me."
How could you not have a week off in years? Are you not taking vacation time or something? 'Cause if so, that's kinda dumb.
Why didn't they think of options like this before laying off hundreds of people in December? Most of those people are struggling to find work and some are in dire distress already. This option, and other cost-cutting measures, would have been far more humane than throwing a lot of good people out onto the street in the worst economy of our lifetime. Many of those folks were 50 or older, making it nearly impossible to land on one's feet.
ReplyDeleteJust in from Dubow ...
ReplyDeleteToday Gannett is implementing a furlough program across all U.S. divisions and at corporate headquarters. This means that most of our U.S. employees - including myself and all other top executives - will be furloughed for the equivalent of one week in the first quarter. This furlough will be unpaid. Unions also will be asked to participate.
We are doing this to preserve our operations and continue to deliver for our customers while confronting the issues raised by some of the most difficult economic conditions we have ever experienced.
After much consideration, we decided a furlough program would be the fairest and least intrusive way to meet these fiscal challenges in the first quarter, which is traditionally the lightest time of the year. We sincerely hope this minimizes the need for any layoffs going forward.
As the day goes on, you will be receiving information from your division presidents explaining the program, including some FAQs to help answer any of your questions and address your concerns about pay and benefits.
We have made some very difficult decisions this past year, all with the goal of keeping Gannett strong and preparing for the future. I understand I have asked a great deal of you, and I regret adding to your burden with this program.
But my sincere hope is that this step removes the need to do anything more drastic, and that business conditions improve. As always, I thank you for your patience and loyalty to Gannett.
11:42 Check that again, because I am pretty sure that unemployment insurance will not cover a week-long furlough, even in NJ. Under the federal rules, unemployment insurance doesn't kick in for the first week you are laid off. You are going to have to suck up the revenue loss of this. Good time to take a vacation in Florida or some place that is warm.
ReplyDeleteweek off has been announced.
ReplyDeleteIt's official. We just got the note from our publisher (Westchester).
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a misimpression here. The furlough is going to be in addition to layoffs and further cutbacks, not a replacement for that. I know there will be more layoffs.
ReplyDeleteEmail just went out...
ReplyDeleteToday Gannett is implementing a furlough program across all U.S. divisions and at corporate headquarters. This means that most of our U.S. employees - including myself and all other top executives - will be furloughed for the equivalent of one week in the first quarter. This furlough will be unpaid. Unions also will be asked to participate.
We are doing this to preserve our operations and continue to deliver for our customers while confronting the issues raised by some of the most difficult economic conditions we have ever experienced.
After much consideration, we decided a furlough program would be the fairest and least intrusive way to meet these fiscal challenges in the first quarter, which is traditionally the lightest time of the year. We sincerely hope this minimizes the need for any layoffs going forward.
As the day goes on, you will be receiving information from your division presidents explaining the program, including some FAQs to help answer any of your questions and address your concerns about pay and benefits.
We have made some very difficult decisions this past year, all with the goal of keeping Gannett strong and preparing for the future. I understand I have asked a great deal of you, and I regret adding to your burden with this program.
But my sincere hope is that this step removes the need to do anything more drastic, and that business conditions improve. As always, I thank you for your patience and loyalty to Gannett.
Smart companies invest in themselves during tough times so they’ll emerge faster and stronger when better times return. Not Gannett.
ReplyDeleteInstead, Craig and crew do the opposite by continually cutting core products to the bone. No one has to wonder what moves like that say to Gannett’s readers and advertisers, let alone the negative impact that has on consumerism – the engine that really drives this economy.
Nice work Craig, your moves not only continue to materially damage this company, but also serve in playing a role in dragging these poor economic times further out.
Question: Will the furlough cost those of us who recently chose buyouts? Will I lose a week's pay, too?????
ReplyDelete10:47, Product and circulation has been suffering for years. They do not care if it suffers more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving us the heads up on this today, Jim. It always pays to check Gannettblog BEFORE leaving for work.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with Gannett nowadays is all the people who run it are pencil pushers, they never had to work their way up like in newspaper days gone by.
ReplyDelete