Gannett's Observer & Eccentric Newspapers subsidiary near Detroit just announced it will cease publication of five Eccentric print and web editions, as of May 31. About 44 employees are being laid off in all departments, including advertising, editorial, circulation and production."These expense reductions are a direct effect of our challenging economy and changing media landscape," said Susan Rosiek, executive editor of the Observer & Eccentric, Mirror and Hometown Newspapers. "These decisions, as difficult as they are to execute and to accept, position the newspaper for the future -- a future that includes multiple platforms of news and advertising."
The cuts bring to 310 the number of employees Gannett has laid off since launching an unannounced workforce reduction about March 21.
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Gannett began a new round of job reductions near the end of the last quarter. We're keeping track in our site-by-site Roll Call IV. Is your workplace represented?
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So the 44 people to be laid off have to keep on producing these papers until the end of May? How does that work? How do you muster any kind of enthusiasm for your job? How do you convince people to buy ads, or sources to talk to you, when they all know you're not going to be around in a month?
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts and prayers to go out to these workers.
The editions being killed cover the most affluent part of the O&E's circulation area. Can someone explain the financial logic here? Does it have anything to do with Detroit Free Press circulation patterns?
ReplyDelete"So the 44 people to be laid off have to keep on producing these papers until the end of May?"
ReplyDeleteThey don't have to do anything, speckbrain.
If more people walked right after these announcements, the dynamic would change.
4:22 -- Please be kinder in your responses. 2:40 is certainly not a "speckbrain." Sure, people could walk and it would send a message. But those who did would be fired, not layed off. That would mean no severance and, very possibly, no unemployment.
ReplyDeleteIf you are independently wealthy, you might be able to do what you suggest and "change the dynamic." But that's not very realistic for most American families.
I've thought about walking out on my GCI job numerous times, but I realize that I'd be asking my family to carry a huge financial burden.
Learn to read. He made it sound like they had to stay.
ReplyDeleteIf the place didn't give them notice, then people here would be crying and screaming.
Now they have six weeks to work and get paid while they try to find something else. Not ideal, but it could be worse.
4:22,
ReplyDelete2:40 here. Yeah, I realize that they don't "have" to do anything. But as a practical matter, they probably won't get severance if they walk, as you suggest. (Do you even qualify for COBRA if you leave a job voluntarily?)
I know the notice is more humane than an immediate shutdown. I'm not quibbling with that.
What I'm wondering is how you can do your job effectively, representing the paper to the community as a reporter, ad rep, photographer, whatever, when everyone knows it's going to be gone in about 50 days.
As a reporter, it's all about developing relationships for the long-term. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours - maybe not today, not tomorrow, but down the road. There is no down the road for the Eccentric papers.
Sincerely,
Speckbrain
All the more reason for them to do the bare minimum, get the paycheck and prepare to move on. If the company doesn't give a shit, why should they?
ReplyDelete(Do you even qualify for COBRA if you leave a job voluntarily?)
Yes. It has to be offered.
44 people represents 1/3 of that company's total workforce.
ReplyDeleteThese two months will be good practice. You have to stay positive and keep working if you're going to find another job.
ReplyDeleteI just love Jim's phrase: "since launching an unannounced workforce reduction about March 21." That makes it sounds like layoffs stopped at some point when in actuality they've been continuous for some time. That is just poor reporting in an attempt to stir the pot.
ReplyDeleteThis article reminds me of this quote, "Seasonal unemployment was found to be a state which does not have much employment, for example, rural areas."
ReplyDeleteBut there are career experts who conduct seminars giving advice about the needed skills to compete in today's competitive job market.