The Bay Area News Group-East Bay announced today that enough of its employees took a buyout offer that it will be able to reduce its staff by 10 percent without layoffs.
BANG-EB will buy out 107 of 1,100 workers. The reductions will affect every department in that company including the papers’ newsrooms. The staff reductions involve 23 Bay Area daily and weekly publications, including the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune. The papers are owned by the California Newspapers Partnership, which is controlled by MediaNews Group.
“These job eliminations through voluntary buyouts no doubt will require shuffling and sharing of work and may result in new assignments and work locations for some employees,” BANG-EB publisher and president John Armstrong said in an e-mail announcement to employees. “We hope all of you will understand and be flexible.”
Previously the company said it was making the cuts due to a reduction in real estate advertising.