Layoffs

The layoffs will result in “scores of pink slips” in marketing, promotions and PR, sources told the New York Post.

There are 150 employees in the marketing division, plus an unspecified number of PR employees. The NYP said that about two percent of the entertainment division as a whole are getting the ax, so if the cuts are distributed evenly, there won’t be really “scores” to worry about in each department–though the cumulative effect is sure to be chilling.

These cuts are separate from the marketing department reorganization that is ongoing, in which 10 employees lost their jobs, including Jim Vescera, who had been with the company for 26 years.

Meanwhile, the Post said, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke has asked NBC News and CNBC to find $10 million in savings.

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Quinstreet’s purchase of Ziff Davis Enterprise, announced yesterday, will result in up to 100 layoffs, Folio reports.

Yesterday 30 people were let go immediately and 70 will be cut in the coming weeks, sources told Folio. That leaves just 20 ZDE staffers who will keep their jobs with their company’s new owners.

The people who haven’t yet been laid off are being retained to “help transition the ZDE assets and ongoing business operations to QuinStreet,” Folio says. But “given the size of the cuts, it’s hard to see what QuinStreet has in mind for ZDE’s brands, because content-based operations require content creators.”

The people being retained are a mix of editorial, sales and marketing.

Halifax Media Group has laid off 30 of the 50 staffers it acquired from the New York Times Regional Media Group headquarters in Tampa, according to a memo obtained by Poynter Mediawire. The HQ was home to the management team that supervised the 16 papers purchased by Halifax, including marketing staff, product managers, developers and salespeople.

The 20 HQ employees who were not laid off face a choice: relocate 2.5 hours away to Daytona Beach or join the ranks of the unemployed. According to Poynter, the developers and salespeople were offered positions, while all the marketing employees and all but one product manager were laid off.

Halifax was bound by the terms of its purchase to only lay off 10 percent of the 2,000-person-total staff, but that requirement only applied to layoffs at the sale’s closing, which happened late last year.

The newspapers themselves, not the HQ, can expect more layoff news in the next month or so, Poynter reports.

According to Romenesko and a tipster of his, the AP has let go 10 staffers, including three bureau chiefs, two assistant bureau chiefs, two in AP images, entertainment reporter Rosalie Fox, and a photo editor.

The AP is also killing its premium personal finance wire, but reassigning the five staffers who worked on it, a separate tipster said.

According to the Tennessee Ticket blog, one of the AP staffers affected was Bill Poovey, the only AP Chattanooga correspondent.

Today the AP also announced that it is reinstating its internship programs after a one-year hiatus. When the news service initially announced the yearlong break, some didn’t believe the internships would ever return, so chalk one up for small victories.

A few days old now but still huge! Procter & Gamble announced that it will cut three percent, or 1,600 “overhead” (or non-manufacturing) jobs and place a greater focus on digital marketing, AdAge reports.

The company has “discovered” that “it’s free to advertise on Facebook,” as Business Insider put it.

Whether or not the platform on which you buy your ad time is free, though, you still need geniuses to make the stuff. And your stuff needs to be even more genius when it’s surrounded by skateboarding dogs competing for your brand’s attention.

But meanwhile, the staff reductions (which will come from a combination of attrition, selective hiring, and layoffs) will save the household products company $240 million a year.

When the publisher of the Virginian-Pilot announced layoffs in September, he called them “difficult and painful.”

Staffers are less sure that publisher Maurice Jones is feeling any of that pain, now that records show he received more than a half-million dollars in salary and a $263,000 bonus between Jan. 1, 2010, and Oct. 4, 2011.

Jones’s compensation only became public because he was nominated to deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Washington Times reports.

Jones laid off 50 people in September 2011, the paper’s fourth round of layoffs since late 2008. According to the Times, no senators asked questions about Jones’ bonus pay during his confirmation hearing in November, which was held days before the newspaper reported on the layoffs.

Sad late-breaking news from two media companies today, both reported by that unstoppable force of journalism-industry news, Jim Romenesko: the Smithsonian Magazine has apparently laid off all six of its associate editors, while GateHouse Media will be centralizing its copy desks and consolidating staff….

Meanwhile, Callie Schweitzer has been promoted to deputy publisher at TPM, Atlantic Digital has made three hires and a promotion, and more….

• Smithsonian Magazine lays off all 6 associate editors (via JIMROMENESKO.COM)

• GateHouse moves to central copy desks, lays off staff (via JIMROMENESKO.COM)

• TPM Promotes 23-year-old to Deputy Publisher (via FishbowlDC)

• Atlantic Digital Hires 3, Promotes 1 (via FishbowlDC)

• Glamour Promotes Two (via FishbowlNY)

• Fitness Magazine Promotes Kristin Guinan to Marketing Director (via FishbowlNY)

• Former ABC News biz correspondent joins PR firm (via Talking Biz News)

Only a month after laying off editorial staffers at seven Metromix sites across the country to become “Metromix Express,” the news is coming that Gannett is also scaling back its flagship Metromix site serving New York.

The editor, Kirk Miller, broke the news to his writers yesterday. Capital New York called the move a “shuttering” as Miller’s farewell memo said that Metromix New York was “no more,” but a Gannett spokesperson says that the company is “evaluating all of our options” for the future of the site.

However, “Some Metromix employees in editorial, advertising sales, administration and business operations” were laid off, the spokesperson said.

We assume that this means that Metromix NY is also becoming a “Metromix Express,” which means it will feature content aggregated from elsewhere.

No word on how this affects Gannett’s 18 other Metromix sites, or the 39 that are owned by the Chicago Tribune.

UPDATE: Stan Steinreich responded to this story and says that it is completely inaccurate. Please see follow-up post here.

A tipster tells us that seven people have been laid off at PR/advertising firm Steinreich Communications, where three offices (in New York, LA, and DC) were also closed.

The same tipster tells us that president/CEO Stan Steinreich attributed the closures and layoffs to a poor economy and client losses. The company continues to rep As Seen on TV brands and 1-800 Mattress, among others, from its Hackensack, NJ headquarters.

Steinreich did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The New York Times, as previously mentioned, is selling its Regional Media Group papers to Halifax Media Holdings. The sale is official as of yesterday for $143 million.

According to a FAQ posted by Jim Romenesko, Halifax is making decisions within 48 hours as to which employees they will keep and which will be laid off.

The FAQ answers very few of the other frequently asked questions, however: The answer to “Will the buyers reduce headcount?” was answered as “That decision will be made by Halifax.” Helpful. In another answer, the Times does say that Halifax has “committed to making offers of employment to the vast majority of employees,” but that’s about it.

“Will there be any changes made to the properties? That decision will be made by Halifax. Are you planning to sell other Times Company properties? As you know, it is our long-standing policy not to comment on acquisitions and divestitures. Should I plan to look for another job? We cannot advise employees on their personal, professional decisions.”

One commenter on Romenesko’s blog has it right with his hypothetical final FAQ question and answer pair: “Will the door hit me in the ass on my way out? We cannot advise employees on whether the door will hit their ass on the way out. You are free to move your ass in such a way as to avoid letting the door hit it.”

We’re tagging this post with “layoffs” even though none have yet officially been announced because they seem…well…inevitable.