From a new comment on Alan Mutter's post this morning, about Gannett's requiring some 35,000 U.S. workers to take a week off without pay in the current quarter. That is so The 11th Floor can continue paying unconscionably high 21% dividend yields to investors who don't sweat milk prices. Anonymous@11:38 a.m. said:Thousands of employees who live on low wages at smaller (most) Gannett properties, and who live paycheck to paycheck by necessity, will face real financial hardship of the kind unknown by the people who made this decision.
Small-business workers?
If they were independently owned, dozens of GCI papers and other operating units would qualify as small businesses, under the U.S. government definition: employers with fewer than 500 workers.
Typical of these heartless executives with their million dollar salaries. They don't know what it is like to try to make it on $40K a year, and what a loss of a week's salary means. It would be better to have layoffs, because that way we could draw unemployment. No unemployment for a week-long furlough. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteWe are experiencing an unprecedented economic disaster. We can't keep doing what we've been doing. No one can. This way, we manage to keep the same number of people we have now, which doesn't gut the staff. If we lay off people again, that makes it harder to do what we're doing and just weakens the quality of the papers.
ReplyDeleteAfter basically ignoring the significance of a 21% dividend yield, I have asked around about this and ... I'm aghast.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we tie up that much money in a dividend yield? That's clearly not helping our stock price, right?
Elderly shareholders and others who bought GCI stock need that dividend to live on. Cut the dividend, and old people start starving and dying off.
ReplyDeleteFreep to Corporate: Take your furlough and stuff it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Editor and Publisher, the Detroit Free Press won't participate in Gannett's furlough program.
"We have tons of redesign and tons of selling and I can't be losing people at this time," says Freep publisher David Hunke. "We are around the clock working toward March 30 and what will be a dramatic change" when the paper reduces home delivery and focuses on its website.
Looks like there is a revolt in the papers over this furlough. Hooray, a food fight.
This furlough is so unfair. Our paper is still printing lots of ads, and looks very prosperous. We are told by our publisher that we are not losing money. So why should we be punished, and our paper take furloughs because of some cookie cutter decision made in McLean. Let the papers decide individually how they can respond, not this companywide approach.
ReplyDelete"We are experiencing an unprecedented economic disaster. We can't keep doing what we've been doing. No one can. This way, we manage to keep the same number of people we have now, which doesn't gut the staff. If we lay off people again, that makes it harder to do what we're doing and just weakens the quality of the papers.
ReplyDelete1/15/2009 5:17 PM"
Oh come on... Gannett did this to themselves, starting about 5 years ago. They've gotten away from what they do best and thats reporting the news in the NEWSPAPER. Turning their focus to an online format has ruined Gannett. There is too much competition online for those advertising dollars. Just go to alexa.com and find out just how well you rank. And pardon me if I don't cry about your complaint of how much harder it will make for you if you lay off more people and weaken the quality of the papers. Ask yourself... WHAT PAPER? As far as I'm concerned... No content in the Newspaper, makes no advertising revenue. Get back to your CORE product if you want to save Gannett. This economy just fueled the match lit under the small fire corporate started 5 years ago. Now it's an all out 5 alarmer! Start cutting at the corporate level. Fly commercial Mr. Dicky. Sell the box seats that are never used to entertain clients but given to local managers to take their families to events. Enough! There are real lives at stake here. Think about us gofers for once. Have a freakin heart. You know there is corporate waste. Does our publisher really need that corner office on a floor to themselves? Trash it!!! Next time I get a complaint about the paper content. I'm directing them to 1-800-Bob-Dicky.
I find it amazing that nothing seems to make you all happy. I worked for Gannett for 15 years and then was let go in the cut backs. I would like to be in your shoes right now. If they had offered me one week for 51 week I would have jumped on it. You should be thankful that you even have a job in these economic times.
ReplyDeleteYou all should be ashamed of yourselves and count your blessings.
Re Anon 5:28PM
ReplyDeleteWe can't let that happen. They're the only ones that read the papers.
5:17 - ?
ReplyDelete"We can't keep doing what we've been doing."
We can't keep trying to provide local news to our readers?
"Doesn't gut the staff."
Already been done. Only going to get worse.
"'If'" we lay off people again." It's not if, it's when. And I'm guessing sooner rather than later.
"Weakens the quality of the papers." Um. Ongoing.
If you bought GCI to live off the dividend, #1 you had too much money, #2 you have a lot less now, #3 what the hell were you smoking?
ReplyDeleteA company that doesn't exist can't pay a dividend. If it's desperate enough to give us all a 2% pay decrease, it sure as hell is desperate enough to tell the market we are suspending the dividend for two quarters.
A year from now Gramma still gets social security to live on. Unemployment won't last that long for me. No offence, but screw Gramma.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing that nothing seems to make you all happy. I worked for Gannett for 15 years and then was let go in the cut backs. I would like to be in your shoes right now. If they had offered me one week for 51 week I would have jumped on it. You should be thankful that you even have a job in these economic times.
You all should be ashamed of yourselves and count your blessings.
1/15/2009 8:16 PM
Hummm... I'll trade you my job anyday! I find it amazing that you have fond memories of a company who laid you off. I don't know about you, but I bust my butt for this company. Believe me. This isn't the end for corporate. Just the beginning. I think since we have been told several times over the past couple of days that we aren't to call the office, check e-mails, voice mail, communicate with clients, etc. that some of us that scheduled and picked our furlough week, just selected our end date and won't be coming back. We'll get a phone call at home that week from HR and told our services are no longer needed and they'll mail us the paper work. t! Hey, I'll trade you places anyday! It's be a living hell the past six months. If I'm laid off, I can at least collect unemployment. But if you feel so loyal to a company that thought your best wasn't good enough and let you go. Then by all means... praise them. Hey, how about you starting a fund for us on furlough. This way you could feel that warm fuzzy feeling again for the company that laid you off. Never mind... you still have that warm fuzzy feeling!