St. Pete Times staff told no layoffs coming, after strong response to early retirement offer

  In a memo to staffers this morning, St. Petersburg Times editor, CEO and Chairman Paul Tash tells staffers that strong response to the company's early retirement incentives means "we can avoid the general layoffs I warned might be coming" when the voluntary retirement offer was closed.

Tash says 200 staffers across the company, 150 full time and 50 part time, accepted the enhanced retirement benefit, or 40 percent of all staff aged 50 and up with five years' service or more. According to the terms of the retirement package, those staffers will depart the company by the month's end, including editor of editorials Phil Gailey, business columnist Helen Huntley, business writer and former features/sports guy Tom Zucco, former food critic Chris Sherman, and many more.

Critics have said some staff reductions at the paper which could be called layoffs, have not been classified as such internally. Still, the news offsets some anxiety here amid rumors that layoffs might be coming later this year.

Click below to see the text of the memo:

Dear Colleagues:

For the last three months, we have been operating in a climate of some uncertainty, while staffers eligible for the 5-plus-5 retirement program were deciding whether to participate. We now have clarity around that question, and have reached some decisions about what happens next.

The response to the retirement program was quite strong, a sign of the benefit many staffers saw in it. In round numbers, 200 staffers -- 150 full time and 50 part time -- signed up for the program; that's roughly 40 percent of those who were eligible. Except for those who have retired already, they will be departing within the next two weeks. They have our heartfelt thanks for their service, and our best wishes.

Because participation was so strong, we can avoid the general layoffs I warned might be coming at the end of the 5-plus-5 plan. Some staffers will be asked to take on new responsibilities or assignments, but at least for the foresseable future, we will not have the more sweeping measures that often are employed in such a harsh business climate.

All around the Times, we are adapting to the reality of a smaller staff, and let me be clear: that work must continue into September and beyond. We will keep being cautious about any new hires, even as staffers leave for new jobs or places. We will keep looking for better ways to organize our work, so that it requires fewer people. And we will continue to monitor performance closely, so that the Times gets real value from every position.

With many of our fellow staffers preparing to depart, those of us remaining have the chance to re-commit ourselvew to the difficult but vital work of adapating the Times to changing consumer tastes and challenging economic times. By bringing our creative energy and best efforts to this task, we serve the best interests of our customers, our company and ourselves. Now, let's get on with it.

.

Comments

[Simon]

It sucks that so many people now get their news from 24 hour channels and windbags like Rush and Bill. I bet if the newspaper industry banned together and made advertising so annoying (you have a good start with those pop ups and floaters) people would go back to reading print and advertisers would come back. You ever realize how all channels go to commercial at the same time so you can never get away from the damn things? Same thing, but in a newspaper ads are easy to ignore...and easy to look for when there's something you want.

[REG CROWDER]

These kinds of things are always frightening and painful. I know. I've had a surprising number of newspapers shot out from under me over the years.

Although you can never really know from a distance, the St. Petersburg Times down-sizing looks like a serious attempt to be fair, at a time when options for the management/ownership are slipping away.

It is unfortunate that the folks at the Annenberg school of journalism decided to shut down their Online Journalism Review in June. One of the OJR's objectives was to help mid-career journalists change and adapt to new roles in digital reporting and production.

But there is some good news. Annenberg has pledged to continue its assistance to mid-career journalists through the Knight Digital Media Center. This is the URL:

http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/

I was "raised" at the J-school in Gainesville to work for daily newspapers. But the daily newspapers started going away. Now, online media accounts for about 80% of my income.

And I'm as happy as hell. But there were some ugly times on the way to this particular happy ending.

Gawd, I love your newspaper. It hurts me to see this happening.

REG CROWDER
Freelance Financial and Investment Writer
London, England and Brittany, France
http://knol.google.com/k/reg-crowder/international-investing/6dyptd3yjxyq/2