Just weeks after the sale of the North County Times to the owners of U-T San Diego, a third of the newspaper’s staff was told they would be laid off. That includes 24 newsroom jobs, according to Elizabeth Aguilera of the North County Times. Workers were given notice of the upcoming layoffs on Monday, in keeping with California law, which requires 60 day advance warning for mass layoffs.

So they’ll be losing their jobs on December 1st. Just in time for the holidays!

Aguilera writes:

The merger will push the combined U-T San Diego and North County Times circulation within the top 10 local daily newspapers in the nation based on ABC circulation averages for the six-month period ended March 31, according to the U-T. (USA Today and The Wall Street Journal are not included because they are not seven-day-a-week local newspapers.)

Since conservative developer Doug Manchester acquired the U-T San Diego last December, he’s used the newspaper as a mouthpiece to promote his political and business agendas. With that kind of editorial direction, we strongly suspect circulation numbers for both newspapers will take a hit.