Friday, January 19, 2007

Time cuts 289 jobs

The bloodbath at Time Inc. turned out to be worse than many had anticipated, with the final number of staff cuts swelling to 289 workers and Time, People and Sports Illustrated taking the heaviest hits.

Most of the cutbacks are coming from the editorial side, where the headcount is slated to drop by 172 people, evenly split between 86 voluntary departures and 86 forced layoffs. The business side is losing 117 people.

"It's like a funeral," said one editorial insider, who is mulling whether or not to take a buyout package. "I think everyone is too scared to be ticked off or to show they are angry.

"They've decimated what was once a respected source of news and other information," said Newspaper Guild President Barry Lipton, who had just begun negotiations on a new contract with Time Inc. "It's like Humpty Dumpty, [it] will never be put back together again."

Click on the headline to read the full story by Keith J. Kelly in the New York Post

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