Flood of Tribune employees signs up for buyout

Hundreds of Tribune Publishing employees may accept a buyout offer and hit the exits by year-end, giving the newspaper company a chance to cut labor costs but saddling it with hefty severance payouts and a loss of experience.
At the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and the company’s seven other smaller newspapers, a large percentage of editors, reporters, press operators and support staff have raised their hands to take the offer.
The number of employees who have volunteered to leave comes to at least 100, perhaps at Chicago Tribune alone, and likely several hundred across the company, based on interviews with current and former employees.
With nearly 7,600 employees at the end of last year, Chicago-based Tribune is one of the biggest newspaper companies in the country. It’s cutting workers in light of a decadelong decline in the print advertising revenue that had been the lifeblood of the industry. In a memo to employees announcing the buyout Oct. 5, Tribune Publishing CEO Jack Griffin said reducing headcount was “critical” to the future of the company.
Read More