Monday, December 7, 2009

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Lays Off 39 Employees

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel laid off 39 business-side employees today, publisher Betsy Brenner wrote in an email to employees. The layoffs came from the advertising, circulation and other business departments.

It's the third round of job cuts this year for the newspaper.

Parent company Journal Sentinel Inc., said it represented 3 percent of its workforce.

These job reductions primarily affect the Journal Sentinel’s circulation field operations and other business departments, a press release said. No newsroom employees were affected.

The 39 employees are expected to leave before the end of the year, the company said. The company will record a pre-tax workforce reduction charge of $600,000 in the fourth quarter. Journal Sentinel Inc. is a Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN) company.

“This difficult decision was necessary as the advertising environment continues to be challenging,” said Journal Sentinel President and Publisher Betsy Brenner. “We thank our colleagues for their exceptional service to the company and to our customers. We remain committed to our role as the leading news gathering organization in southeastern Wisconsin.”

On Aug. 4, the newspaper announced that it would reduce its workforce by 92 employees, or 6.2 percent, in a layoff that includes 37 voluntary buyout offers that were accepted by newsroom staffers.

The Journal Sentinel on April 6 laid off 26 full time and five part-time employees to reduce expenses. The Journal Sentinel previously provided buyouts to newsroom staff in summer 2008 and fall 2007, leading to job cuts of 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

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