In an e-mail, a reader says Gannett has recently posted 45 or more new digital job openings, all based in Virginia under Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis. "Where will the money come from to pay for these jobs?" the reader wonders. "Maybe this is the equivalent of the USA Today launch, where they took the expenses out of community newspapers."
Can anyone confirm -- and add detail? Please leave a note in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, use this link from a non-work computer; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Maybe they are going to try to centralize the web operation like they did with the toning of photos and customer service.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to the 46 jobs listings, posted either June 4 or June 5:
ReplyDeleteTiny:
http://tinyurl.com/6qykdz
Long:
http://www.jobpath.com/csh/Results.aspx?kw=&us=all&lc=US&et=JTFT&et=+JTPT&et=+JTIN&hn=gannettdigitalcom&csh=CSH_GANNETTDIGIT
A challenging business environment and loss of revenues to online maybe the publicly shared face for Gannett’s reported near $3 billion write-down, but that’s hardly the full and complete story.
ReplyDeleteYears of lackluster strategies, management by those who put their needs first, far too aggressive acquisition economics and newspaper “profiteering”, and of late, what Martore refers to as Gannett’s efforts too “position the company for the changing media landscape” all have taken a far greater toll than current, economic “headwinds”.
Adding more digital deck chairs and/or most likely shifting those chairs from newspapers to McLean won’t solve the heart of the real, underlying issues that have led to this company’s decline either.
They want to position the company for the changing media landscape? Too late. The landscape changed a long time ago and the old model was left in the dust. People now have endless options as far as where to get their news and classified, one of the pillars of newspapers, is getting clobbered by craigslist and other online options. The time to keep those readers was long ago, by giving them compelling reasons to stay with Gannett publications during the media's transition to the online world.
ReplyDeleteI think this is the beginning of the shift from GMTI to Gannett Digital. After the terrible job GMTI has done in managing the different digital products that Gannett has acquired, hopefully Chris can wrest control away from Jack Williams or whoever is running GMTI.
ReplyDeleteWe need a much quicker response to each market, and right now, it's still glacially slow in working with GMTI. Gannett Digital can't do worse, and hopefully they can do much better.
We can always hope this is not some kind of ill-conceived consolidation. Something tells me that when you hire a guy like Saridakis and give him a budget, you expect a new concept rather than the same old shit in a digital wrapper.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the company has finally realized that if it is going to compete with Google, Yahoo, and other online companies it needs to come up with its own online products instead of relying on third parties that overpromise, take the money, and apologize profusely when their swiss army knife technology doesn't work like the fillet knife that we need, but didn't we realize we were buying a swiss army knife? (e.g., Maven, Pluck.) Maybe it has dawned on them that a company that says the Internet is the future but doesn't have a serious Internet strategy aside from "wait for someone else to innovate, then buy or rent their inventions" is too passive to be viable in the long term.
We can hope.
Saridakis is a smart guy. If there is any executive you want to give headcountin these times it is this one. Seems like his track record would speak for itself though. I heard him speak a few weeks ago and he knows what he wants and he is willing to take the risks even if it is his own job. He visited our office and took the time to meet with our newsroom and after he departed, he was following up and driving the initiative forward.
ReplyDeleteI am fairly optimistic and he is a breath of fresh air.
Well great. But what's the point?
ReplyDeleteFive to ten years too late. The brand positions are done. The portals are in place and will evolve without the distraction of producing print products.
I could be all wet, and all wrong and maybe this is all relative...that on the margins that there are other millions to be had????
This isn't about GMTI (no engineer jobs posted). It's about content and business. Also notable that the posted org chart suggests all the positions that report directly to Saridakis are already spoken for; i.e., it's still old-school folks filling the critical positions. Which means it could be lipstick on a pig. Also, Saridakis is rich, thanks to Gannett buying his company Point Roll. He doesn't need "a job."
ReplyDeleteanon 9:02p...i think this guy was rich way before gannett bought his company for $100 million. he started doubleclick, the company that google just bought for $3 billion dollars and he also invested in a bunch start up companies years ago. i don't think he is the type of guy who is waiting for his pay check (he probably doesn't even know when he gets paid).
ReplyDeletesometimes people who have all this money are willing to take the risks that others would never even consider. this is why i think it might not be so bad that he starts hiring more people that are willing to take those risks and truly innovate. We all know that if you have been here for more than 10 years, like me, you probably would never take the risks since gannett is such a comfortable nest for all of us chickens!
I hope he succeeds and helps us all out. From what i hear, he is a good person.
Success is built with a team that shares the right philosophy and a commitment to fight for it…..poster 9:02 has it right! If you are not part of the solution … you are the problem…..so where do you fit? The train has left the station!!!!!
ReplyDeletesorry that is poster 7:07 that has it right..if you can change that for me...
ReplyDeleteI've dealt with GMTI many times over the years and everyone I've come in contact with are efficient and knowledgeable. The problem lies in what we all complain about - they too are overworked and understaffed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Corporate is going to use this group to roll out more turnkey (but hopefully not broken) products like the MOMS sites and the G04 design. Except that with their own group they won't have to get their innovation from a 3rd party.
Or yeah, they may be planning to can all of the local web designers.
The $$$ for digital are coming from other operations. Back at the ranch, we've already been told to look out for another round of cuts this summer.
ReplyDeleteI actually think Saridakis now has control over gmti. I wonder if he will shae things up there too! I hope he does.
ReplyDeleteMany people complain about corporate, but few realize there are many people in McLean who care about the success of the local markets. We're all working toward the same goals.
ReplyDeleteThe local markets are not the only ones understaffed. The people in McLean have a lot on their plates. The new positions within Gannett Digital are a good sign and nobody should be complaining.
The people at GMTI are a great group and an invaluable resource. They too are dealing with the same pressures throughout the company.
What's so wrong about taking money from one pot to support another? Growth has to be funded from somewhere.
Attitudes calling moves like this "too late" are just dragging the company down. The internet is still in its infancy and there is plenty of room for growth and innovation. Gannett is certainly playing catch up, but I'm confident the company will succeed in the end.
From those of us out here in the "real" world what we see mostly from Gannett Virginia is a bloated organization with lots of folks who haven't a clue about what happens out here. To even suggest that we feel sorry for the Virginia crew in any way is a true slap in the face (again and again). Like most government agencies, Gannett Virginia is bloated and stuffed full of empty suits. At the Gannett newspapers (not USA Today) we have crumbling, filthy, out dated buildings and equipment were it's depressing to work and management that is just plain ole dumb. Local management marches to the tune of the bottom line as dictated by Virginia AND they don't give a damn about the workers at their papers now or before! Many of the local operations are filled with (local senior management) cronies who have their heads up the butts of the incompetent local management. Look at the working conditions in Cherry Hill, NJ that finally blew up in Gannett's faces. How can someone in Virginia at HQ even ask for more from the local operations and their people. We all work long hard hours and often see the beaurocrats at Virginia take Gannett only holidays and get special considerations we couldn't even dream of getting. And, we get paid a lot less. As far as the recent large purchase of Gannett stock...well, the stock tanked again today. Wait until the real 'heat' of the summer hits along with the lack of results seen by the few advertisers that remain. To quote Al Jolson, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"
ReplyDeleteI won't disagree that McLean's facilities are a bit over the top, but I will say they are not much different than other corporate headquarters in the DC area. I'm not saying that excuses the conditions out in the field.
ReplyDeleteFYI - the suits at Gannett corporate impose the same demands on the corporate peons.
Gannett Digital is certainly not bloated. I'd like to see somebody compare Gannett Digital's headcount to that of Tribune's digital operations.
Gannett only holidays? No such thing. Corporate employees (I am one) get six holidays per year plus three "floaters":
ReplyDeleteNew Years
Memorial Day
July 4th
Labor Day
Thanksgiving
Xmas
We've had job cuts, we work long hours, and we certainly do NOT have an over-abundance of staff.