Sent: Monday, December 14, 2015 11:09 AM
To: News – All Employees
Subject: Newsroom reduction
Colleagues,
As you know, 2016 is a tough budget year for The Seattle Times.
Thanks to your creativity, we were able to find tens of thousands of dollars in savings from expenses. But even after pulling all the change from all the seat cushions, we still need significant reductions in the newsroom budget.
That’s why we’re offering an opportunity for those of you already thinking of leaving the Times to do so with some extra cash in your pocket.
Attached are the details of an “Expression of Interest’’ in voluntarily departing. Those who apply will be eligible for one week of pay for each year of service up to 13 weeks. (The minimum is four weeks of pay, regardless of experience.)
Because this is considered a reduction in force, people who leave voluntarily also will be eligible for unemployment compensation, which currently is available for 26 weeks.
I don’t want to lose any of you and I know that doing so carries a price for our newsroom and for our readers. But we don’t have a choice if we want The Seattle Times to continue.
As the attachment outlines, you have until noon on Dec. 31 to submit your Expressions of Interest. We will review them and let you know whether they are accepted by Jan. 8. Some EOIs may be rejected if your position is mission critical.
It is possible, even with the voluntary departures, that we still may need layoffs to make our budget. But the EOIs will, I hope, minimize that need.
I know the timing for this is not ideal. But I hope that those of you considering leaving the Times will be able to use the holidays to talk over your decision with your families.
There will be meetings today in the Fishbowl at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to answer your questions. We will repeat those sessions tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. You are also free to talk with your department head, AME, or me, Jim or Mich at any time.
Kathy