Gannett Blog recorded 31,000 visits Dec. 3, the peak of the last big job reduction; click on graphic for bigger view. This fever line reflects the fact cuts occurred before and after the planned layoff date. The same could occur in one week -- if current speculation is true.
A. July 8 -- one
week from tomorrow.
Q. But what about the recent report about July 15?A. That is when Gannett Co.
announces second-quarter financial results, and discusses the outlook for the near term. It's likely Chief Financial Officer
Gracia Martore will give Wall Street analysts updated figures on any layoffs that have occurred by then.
Q. Will everyone get notified on July 8?A. Very unlikely.
The December layoffs were to occur on Dec. 3. But they began several days before, and lasted several days after, because some publishers were out of town, and wanted to be on-site when workers got notified. The pattern resembled a bell curve, as the
Gannett Blog traffic graphic,
above, reflects.
Q. How should I prepare, just in case?A. Slow down spending. Delay all major decisions. Start looking online for jobs. (That's what I did before leaving
USA Today. It's a very sobering exercise.)
A. Got any more advice about preparing for the job market?Start collecting copies of items (e-mail, work samples, for example) you'll want when you start job-hunting. Should you get called into an office to be notified, your computer access will likely be cut immediately, and you may not be able to return to your desk unescorted.
Gannett Blog readers have suggested forwarding copies of critical e-mail to a personal e-mail account. I use Gmail. But Yahoo, MSN and other such free services work just as well.
Also, if you're a blogger, print copies of your best posts. I didn't do that, and found too late that
USA Today had deep-sized my small-business blog. (Grrrrr!) If you're not a blogger,
start now. Blogging is good for everyone, not just editorial, because it forces you into the online world. There are plenty of free blog publishing platforms. I use Google's
Blogger. But there's
Twitter,
TypePad,
WordPress and others. If you've got teen-agers nearby, ask for help.
Q. What about online job-hunting resources?A. Join
LinkedIn and
Facebook. The latter isn't just for college students anymore. I use it daily.
Q. How about medical benefits?A. This is going to be the biggest challenge of all. My impression from the December layoffs:
Hewitt Associates was overwhelmed with requests. Calls went unanswered, or did not get returned for days.
You will need to be merciless in keeping on this. And that was when Corporate was "only'' cutting 2,500 or so jobs. This time, the number could hit 4,500 or more. Consider asking a family member of friend to stay by the phone 24/7 if necessary.
Q. 4,500?!A. That's just one estimate for U.S. Community Publishing, the domestic newspaper division, which employs somewhere around 30,000 of Gannett's global workforce of 41,500 at the end of 2008. (See, inset graphic,
above.)
In fact, however, I suspect Corporate is aiming at a
financial target. For example, say those 4,500 each cost an average $75,000 in wages, medical and other benefits. (Remember: some worksites, such as
USA Today,
The Arizona Republic and
The Indianapolis Star, have legacy payrolls that are much more costly than, say,
the smaller community papers.) Multiply that times 4,500 and you get a savings goal of
$338 million.
Q. And pension/401(k) payouts?A. Corporate will be equally challenged here. The second you learn you've been laid off, immediately complete the paperwork Gannett gives you during your notification meeting. Your retirement assets should be tapped only as a last resort -- say, to avoid foreclosure on your home, or to keep your children in school. Some employees complained that it took months to get their rollover checks.
Frankly, I'd like to know how the pension plan can afford to pay 4,500 lump-sum payouts to roll into IRAs or other company plans. Those must be in cash, I believe. (Anyone know the answer?)
Other questions? Better answers? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Graphic: top, Google Analytics]; inset, Gannett's worldwide employment, with annual change, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Forms 10-K]
Q. Will everyone get notified on July 8?
Q. What about online job-hunting resources?
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Following are the three most-clicked on posts in March. They contributed to nearly 39,000 unique visitors, coming about 181,000 times, to view more than 380,000 pages, a new Google Analytics report shows:
I'm trying to earn $6,000 quarterly, mostly through sponsorships of $5 per reader, plus limited ad sales. Please use the "Donate" tool in the green rail, upper right. Or mail cash/checks payable to: Jim Hopkins, 584 Castro St. #823, San Francisco, Calif., 94114-2594.
Gannett Blog's traffic fell from January, as 20,000 or more of the company's U.S. employees began mandatory, week-long furloughs during the quarter. This blog drew nearly 30,000 unique visitors (a tricky metric), down from nearly 43,000 in January. They visited a combined 137,000 times vs. 160,000. And they viewed about 300,000 pages, down from more than 361,000 the month before.
The board: Starting at top row, left to right, with compensation committee members in boldface: Dubow, Elias, Harper, Louis, Magner, McCune, McFarland, Shalala, Shapiro and Williams.
Only yesterday, the government said employers had slashed another 600,000 jobs, the most since 1974. The jobless rate rose to 7.6%, highest since 1992. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama (inset), elected on a platform of historic change, wants caps on executive pay. His call was aimed specifically at the banking and auto industries seeking taxpayer bailouts. But his message is clear.
At the time, you said Dubow deserved such a payout because you wanted to "recognize" him for "continuing to provide leadership and vision, developing and articulating the strategic direction of the company, and fostering an environment in which the senior management team was able to support and execute the strategy he articulated.''
More than 42,000 unique visitors (an elusive number) stopped by last month about 160,000 times, and viewed more than 361,000 pages, according to a new Google Analytics report today.
December brought record traffic amid a big layoff, and historic home-delivery changes in Detroit -- continuing a roller-coaster trend driven by news. Unique visitors (a tricky metric) more than doubled, to 63,083, from November's totals. Visits jumped to 219,616 from 128,477. And page views soared to 541,515 vs. 237,534.
Yesterday, more than 17,000 readers ran through 88,000 page views, and posted about 1,100 comments, according to a new Google Analytics report.
That's according to a new Google Analytics report (image, left), which I'm posting because several readers asked about traffic yesterday, the day Gannett launched its big newspaper layoff.
[Data and image: Google Analytics]
October's traffic mostly rose from the month before, final Google Analytics data show. Unique visitors (a tricky metric) climbed to 25,750 vs. 24,735 in September. Visits totaled 109,285 vs. 100,538. And page views climbed to about 204,443 from 207,480.
Traffic fell last month from August's impossible-to-sustain levels. Unique visitors (why that's a tricky metric) totaled about 25,000 vs. nearly 29,000 the month before. Visits totaled about 101,000, down from 118,767. And page views fell to 207,480 from a steep 273,112.
Updated at 5:44 a.m. ET, Sept. 1. News drove traffic sky-high this month -- to levels I doubt can be sustained, a new Google Analytics report says. Unique visitors in August jumped 66% from July, to nearly 29,000 (why that metric is tricky). Visits rose 59%, to about 119,000. And page views soared 90%, to about 273,000.
