Boston-Herald offers buyouts

The Boston Herald today offered employees voluntary buyout packages in order to trim staff and cut costs.

The offer was made to all the newspaper’s staff and managers, according to an e-mail sent to members of the Herald’s newsroom union. Guild members are being offered two weeks salary for every year of service.

Workers taking the buyout package would have until July 1 to make a decision, and any staff reductions would come next month, the Herald reported on its web site.

“The staffing adjustments we’re making are a result of revenue pressure all newspapers are experiencing. However, the financial efficiencies we are undertaking, coupled with the really great print and online products we publish every day, will position us well for the future,’’ Herald Publisher Patrick J. Purcell said in a statement.

The Herald has more than 200 employees, according to employee estimates.

Bill Brotherton, the newsroom chairperson for the Guild, wrote in his email to colleagues, “But don’t fret, this is nothing like the dire situation we encountered a few years ago, when so many of our union brothers and sisters left or were laid off. We are not going out of business. This is a belt-tightening move by Pat Purcell and his financial team.”