More job cuts at The Des Moines Register

In a memo to employees sent earlier today, Gannett Co. (parent company of The Des Moines Register) announced plans to lay off 10 percent of its newspaper employees, or about 3,000 workers, by early December.

Sources inside the Register’s newsroom confirmed to the Iowa Independent that the layoffs will affect “The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon,” although no details are available at this time.

“People are upset because they are planning the layoffs right before Christmas,” one employee said. “They should just go ahead and get it over with so people won’t have to worry about it for the next two months.”

Since August, Gannett has eliminated 1,000 jobs at its 84 daily newspapers. Register Editor Carolyn Washburn told the staff layoffs were coming at the beginning of August, and by Aug. 19 several veterans of the newsroom were either let go or accepted buyout packages. However, most were well aware that unless Gannett’s financial situation improved dramatically, more job cuts were a foregone conclusion.

Gannett announced Friday that its third-quarter profits fell 32 percent as advertising revenue declined.

Below is the memo from Gannett Newspaper Division President Bob Dickey, first posted by Jim Hopkins at Gannett Blog:

To: [U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division] Publishers & General Managers

As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.

To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.

Each publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.

I have asked that all plans be completed by Nov. 14 at which time they will go through the standard review process.

I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.

While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.

To that end, I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. We need to grow revenue as well as continue to find efficiencies. I would appreciate your help and ideas on both fronts.

My e-mail address is rdickey@gannett.com. I promise you will be heard and receive a timely response.

I appreciate your understanding and commitment during these challenging times.

Thank you.