Readers tell me Florida Today editors who made the cut were notified yesterday, as the Brevard paper shrinks newsroom staffing to about 58 positions -- a more than 25% decline.
Virtually all staffers were asked to apply for the shrunken pool of newly defined jobs. Editors who didn't survive yesterday can now apply for one of the reporting jobs.
"The next round will be applications/interviews for reporting jobs (with potentially much lower pay)," one reader told me in an e-mail.
Final hiring -- and the ensuing layoffs -- are expected Aug. 11.
Brevard's economy has been whacked by the real estate bust, and NASA's retrenchment along the Atlantic Space Coast.
Earlier: Read more than 100 comments about Brevard's plan when it was first announced 10 days ago.
Short iPhone post; more later.
Friday, July 29, 2011
38 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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Which produces the best result in a case like this -- and why?
ReplyDelete* A traditional layoff
* Asking everyone to reapply for work
Best results for the paper or the employees? In either case, as an employee I don't really care what's best for the paper anymore so I'm inclined to go with the asking everyone to reapply scenario, if people who choose not to reapply can still get what passes for a severance package.
ReplyDeleteThe reapplication process allows people who are unhappy and maybe waiting for their layoff, or even looking forward to it, to get on with their lives. It allows people who want to stay at the paper but maybe try something different reapply for a new position at the paper and allows who want to stay in their current job to reapply for that job. Of course this assumes that positions will be filled based on qualifications and not @$$ kissing skills.
I wish my site would go the reapplication process rather than the drip drip drip death by a thousand cuts route we're locked into.
Did they also tell you about the 4 pre-press employees that will be laid off when the printing of USAT is transferred to Orlando? Funny thing is, only one of us is charged to USAT. Explain that?
ReplyDeleteThe re-application process is humiliating for the employee, although I would welcome it at my site because (as I understand it) it would allow me to simply not re-apply and take a layoff. I'm well on the way to a Plan B, and receiving a little severance pay and qualifying for unemployment would allow me to transition into that fairly comfortably. I'm not in a position, however, to simply quit today and lose all pay immediately.
ReplyDeleteI doubt, however, most people are in my boat. Meaning most would have to jump through all the corporate hoops, hoping to re-land their job ... despite the fact that managers already know damn well who they're keeping and who they're letting go.
So, the right thing for the company to do ethically is to lay off the people they don't want and move on. These dog and pony shows are an incredible drain on Gannett's already dwindling resources and they serve very little purpose. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else from this corporation. It's all about putting on a show. Doing actual business is a foreign concept.
The "reapply for your job" has always struck me as a way to do two things: get rid of who you want and lower the pay scale for those who stay. It seems to me that this accomplishes a lot more (from a revenue perspective) than simply laying off X number of people. And it sucks for all involved.
ReplyDeleteBut wait, there's more! According to top management at Florida Today, we will be putting out a higher quality product that our customer's want, with less people.
ReplyDeleteHumiliating and beating down employees is par for the course with this rotten company. Gannett's senior management doesn't give a damn about those outside of the bonus-grabbing, over paid drones at the very top in Virginia. if everyone dropped dead tomorrow, these arrogant assholes would probably throw an expensive party to celebrate reducing overhead.
ReplyDeleteIf the fish rots from the head, remember this:
ReplyDeletewhere did our favorite octogenarian come from?
And is his double-sized ego-boosting statue still in the lobby?
When it comes to newspapers, here's a new slogan that's W I T H I N R E A C H:
ReplyDeleteGhost Coast is TOAST!
They had over 200 newsroom positions? Really? Wilmington has half that and we have a larger circulation. WTF?
ReplyDelete6:09 You've misread my post. There are now 78 positions. About 20 are getting cut, reducing newsroom staffing to about 58.
ReplyDelete(Indeed, I've now been told the correct figure is 57.)
My bad.
ReplyDeleteJim often has trouble with job numbers. He never could get the Tulsa job numbers right, so he just surrendered and started using a range.
ReplyDeleteI know Evan Ray and I worked at The Arkansas Gazette during the same time period. But I don't recall ever meeting him there.
ReplyDeleteBrevard has been bloated, over-staffed and over-funded ever since its founding days of Neuharth and Vega and later with Coleman's influence, too. It's fitting that it gets right-sized. Like it or not, a newspapers have always been a profit venture. And simply can't spend more than it makes.
ReplyDeleteEven if the post is correct about Brevard bloat, no company should make its employees reapply for their jobs. Management should at least be honest about cutting jobs. I'd like to see the self entitled like Dubow have to reapply for their's and feel the humiliation and fear of their employees.
ReplyDelete11:14 -- Exactly. If everyone has to re-apply for jobs, why doesn't the executive editor also have to re-apply. I'm sure there are many papers where a senior reporter or section editor might actually be better qualified for the position. It would be great to see the bigwigs have to compete with the people who used to work with them for their positions. It will never happen, but it would make the whole process more realistic.
ReplyDeleteThe job re-applying process is a total farce that only a company like G A N N E T T could embrace.
ReplyDeleteGet the heck out folks! And if you feel you can't, get back to school, prepare for a new job, start sending out those resumes.
Don't just sit there and wait for your turn at the chopping block!
@ 7:34, That is what I never understood. Why do people just sit there and wait for the ax to fall? It's like waiting in line at the guillotine. Furloughs started at this site a few years back. Then came voluntary layoffs about 2 or 3 years ago. Many people saw the writing on the wall then. Then, mandatory layoffs, then cutting sections and folding some sections into the A section. Then came little things like being cheated out of your full mileage reimbursement. We know Brevard County is a slow place, but c'mon... journalists plugged into the heartbeat of the county couldn't see the writing on the wall??? All of this was BEFORE the shuttle program ended earlier this month. What did you think would happen when our core source of readership was losing their long-term jobs and many moving out of the area? A miracle from on high? I honestly started to get a "panicky" feeling about 3 years ago. Not sure if everyone else got that same feeling. The recession was in full blast, and I'm not sure how many people were just trying to get other places, but couldn't. On top of that, editors and managers were treating employees poorly - throwing work on them relentlessly, requiring Saturday shifts for all but a select few. It was such a thankless environment. Right now, I know that it's a tough time for all still at the paper, but at the same time, it's not like Florida Today's downfall was sudden. I don't get the surprise and anguish. I empathize and feel sad for all of those who are there, but don't quite the "sky is falling all of a sudden" mentality. The sky was falling 3 or 4 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm 9:51, and to answer the question... Having employees re-apply represent a desperate, last-ditch save the ship mentality. I think it means that management are cowards, especially when they don't require the same of themselves. I think it's the result of a tattered and bruised workforce and of exhausted and confused management. It's a lose-lose for all involved. Who wants to be the one who didn't get the job after putting in years of service for a company? Even more, who wants to be the one who did, knowing you sold your soul for the sake of a paycheck?
ReplyDelete9:50PM - Exactly, which make you wonder why we're laying off more. FT is profitable, just not enough for the bloodsuckers at the Crystal Palace.
ReplyDelete5:57- you hit the nail on te head. "blood suckers at the crystal palace".
ReplyDeleteUSAT and the Palace are where the massive cuts need to be made. Both are draining resources from this company at an unsustainable rate.
They're like a parasite draining it's host to live just another day. Not caring if it dies because all they know is how to suck blood.
If wall street took a closer look at where the cuts they love so much are coming from our stock would be back down to $1.
Ask some of the GNJ people at the C-N, DR and HNT about the farce of the "reapplication process." Kangaroo Court would be a better description. Management minds were clearly made up before hand on who stayed and went. When a man who was the dean of Morris County Politics was shown the door, and respected by readers and leaders alike, that speaks volumes. Experience means nothing and capable reporters and AMES, who are pulling down a decent salary (for this business), are sacrificed on the altar of so-called cost cutting.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they truly want maximum savings, the "reapplication" process should start in the executive suite in the Crystal Palace. But Craig probably has a golden parachute for that.
Shame on the five failures who lead this company.
5:02 PM, oh yes, the grotesque head is still there.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have this many to lay off, there really is no other way, Otherwise you may have to lay off more because last in, first out salaries won't get you there. There are too many legal pitfalls with 'protected groups'.. This is the cleanest way to downsize significantly. Believe me, Stover already knows who he'll rehire.
ReplyDeleteJim, Our newsroom staff was around 90 a year ago. Through layoffs and attrition it has been whittled down to 78. After the RIF, we will have 53 full-time staffers and four part-timers. The key here is we restructured the beats, eliminating essential coverage like the courts and one-on-one city coverage. That said, almost all of us are struggling with the desire to stay employed but wondering if we can continue working for a company that treats its staff so poorly. Yes, the economy is bad and has been for years. Yes, ad revenue and circulation are down. But this is not about that. This is about corporate squeezing all the t-31 papers to keep those bonuses coming and USAT afloat.
ReplyDeleteCan we get a list of all the jobs that are open and how many of each kind?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to leave, I'm too great of a worker to stay here, what an insult to my intelligence. see ya
ReplyDeleteHappy to share @9:10 pm: Reporter jobs on what used to be the Metro desk include:
ReplyDeleteCounty/state government, North Brevard (at least three cities covered by one person), Island communities (we have a lot of small cities on barrier islands), South Brevard(two mid-sized cities covered by one person), Environment, Education, Military&Veterans, NASA, Commercial Space, 50-plus, Family Life(both are news beats, not feature or lifestyle section), Religion (Guess we're trying to get the angel-believing demographic), and 2.5 breaking news jobs. Under the new structure, there are more Reporter III's than there are Reporter III positions so some people may wind up taking a pay cut.
There will be one entertainment reporter/editor responsible for the weekly TGIF, and one part time styles reporter, one college sports reporter, one high school sports reporter, and one recreational sports, and one sports columnist.
It's sad being at FLORIDA TODAY. Now employees that aren't staying can't even take a sick day unless getting it approved. If they don't get it they get a manager sends a message or voice mail with vague threats that you could loose your TTP severance. Just what do they want? I think they would be glad to have people who don't want to be there out of the way instead of trying to make them work on things that don't mean a darn to them any longer.
ReplyDelete7:36 POST
ReplyDeleteWhats funny about that is,
that person was let go
See how that works.
Oh bother, interviews for our newsroom jobs begins again today.
ReplyDeleteI am not in the newsroom, but it still gives me a really bad taste in my mouth to see this happening. Every person there who hope to keep their job, or any job, dusted off their suits and dresses, outshining every other department, including the big guy (Mark) himself.
ReplyDeleteThis gives the illusion of a fair process, but I hate to break it to you, the deck is stacked. The powers that be already know who is staying and who isn't, give or take a few who may or may not apply, so this is nothing but a dog and pony show to avert any potential bias lawsuits, that could arrise from simply laying people off.
It is a sad sad world, and as many here has pointed out, if you don't have a plan B in place, now is the time, even if you are still on the payroll after this farce is over.
I wish all my my friends in the newsroom the best of luck, and if you are one of the unfortunate ones, I hope that this will be nothing but a minor setback, and that opportunity will come your way.
Via e-mail, a reader asked me to post the following:
ReplyDeleteWent through a humiliating job app interview this week with two editors. They acted like they had never seen me before, didn't know me nor my work.
Inane questions. I don't want to elucidate here because I could be identified. Just trust me that they were just going through the motions. They already know who they want.
The most demoralizing experience I've ever had there, and believe me, I've suffered many.
Only question not asked was "So tell me, where do you see yourself in five years?"
This reorganization is a laugh. Upper management does not know what they want. They can't even explain it clearly and instead ask the reporters to tell them what they will bring to the table.
I pity the poor middle management, even though they have been guaranteed raises while the rest of us are like dogs doing tricks for table scraps.
A PIECE OF GOOD SOUND ADVICE:
ReplyDeleteLeave while your still got your head screwed on.
This place is a joke.
They have got to be closing this site down soon, there isn't enough to do just to pay all the bills. SAD
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSo, why do YOU stay?
ReplyDelete