Tribune Offers Buyouts To Newsroom Staff
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More job cuts are coming at the Chicago Tribune.
As WBBM Newsradio's David Roe reports, the Tribune itself reported Monday that it will be offering voluntary buyouts to employees to reduce costs in the face of "financial pressures from a weak economy and structural changes in our industry."
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Tribune senior vice president and editor Gerould Kern issued a memo outlining what the Tribune calls a "voluntary separation program."
The buyouts have been offered to all editorial staff, except for top department management.
In the memo, Kern said he would not rule out layoffs in the future, but that a "voluntary plan" is preferred.
The memo says determining whether an employee is eligible for a buyout will depend on seniority, depth at different positions, and business objectives, the Tribune reported.
Those who are accepted for buyouts will leave the company next month, according to the newspaper.
The Tribune Company remains in bankruptcy. A judge rejected a plan by the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, as well as a rival plan by Tribune creditors.
The bankruptcy filing came in 2008, the year after the Tribune Company incurred $13 million in debt when Sam Zell took it private.
