BALTIMORE, MD (July 1, 2008) – The Baltimore Sun will cut 100 jobs by August to reduce costs, the publisher told employees, reducing the workforce through voluntary buy-outs, layoffs, attrition, and closing job positions that have been left open.
The majority of the cuts are expected to come from the newsroom.
The Sun's 1,400 person workforce includes about 400 employees who are represented by the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. The Guild says they were told by the Sun managers that 55 to 60 jobs would be cut from the newsroom, about 20 percent of the staff.
Publisher Timothy Ryan told employees that buy-outs will be available to all employees, and that decisions on layoffs will be determined by how many people apply for a buy-out.
The cuts are part of the broad reductions being made across the Tribune Co., the owner of The Baltimore Sun. Already 45 Sun employees were cut from their jobs in March through buy-outs and layoffs.
Drastic cut-backs and changes have rippled through Tribune Co. owned newspapers since they were bought by Sam Zell in December in an $8.2 billion purchase that took the company private while adding billions of dollars in debt.
