N&O layoffs, buyouts cut another 53 people
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A total of 53 people accepted buyout offers or were laid off in the latest round of job cuts at The News & Observer, Publisher Orage Quarles III told WRAL.com on Wednesday.
Quarles said the reductions were made “company-wide,” and he did not break down the number by department or by publication.
The N&O business unit run by Quarles includes several area publications, including smaller newspapers in Smithfield, Cary and Chapel Hill.
“This has been very difficult,” Quarles said in an interview. “We made a decision based upon where we are (financially).”
The layoffs and buyouts were the second round of cuts at the N&O since April. Its local work force remains above 700 people, according to Quarles.
Among those accepting the buyouts was Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Pat Stith. Stith’s last day is next week. He has worked at the N&O since 1971.
At least 16 people in the N&O newsroom accepted buyouts, sources have told WRAL.com. Layoffs started earlier this week.
The N&O recently offered buyouts to more than 300 full-time employees, and Quarles said in a memo that if enough people did not take the buyouts, layoffs would be made. Buyouts were offered to all newsroom employees. Executive Editor John Drescher said the buyout offers were subject to review,
In April, the newspaper offered voluntary buyouts to 230 employees, and 33 accepted. In June, it laid off 70 employees. The N&O also recently implemented a one-year wage freeze.
The entire McClatchy chain has been cutting employees as the newspaper group struggles to pay down $2 billion in debt amidst a slowing economy.
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