Gannett-Owned Paper’s Restructuring Requires Staffers To Reapply For Jobs

In the past year, it feels like media companies have tried everything to save money and enact cutbacks. But this week there is a newspaper that is doing something completely different.

The Journal News, a Westchester County-based Gannett-owned paper serving the lower Hudson River Valley in New York, laid off 57 employees — in its production, finance, and information technology divisions — last week, and yesterday told 288 advertising and editorial staffers that it would be restructuring those departments and they would all have to reapply for new, redefined roles.

The advertising department, which currently has 96 employees, is losing 20 positions, while the editorial division, which now employs 192, will be losing 50 spots, Journal News publisher Michael Fisch said in a memo to staffers obtained by Romanesko. Employees will have until tomorrow to apply for the new positions (many of which are posted online) and they will learn their fate by the end of the month.

Although the jobs have been posted on CareerBuilder, it’s unclear whether an external candidates will be considered for the positions. We have put in calls and emails to HR at the Journal News but if you have any information — about the hiring process, the mood at the paper or anything else — let us know.

Related: Gannett’s Second Quarter Results Show Hope, Publishing Division’s Revenues Grim

via Gawker and New York Times

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