The New York Times has spent the last several months assuring employees that they won’t be instituting massive layoffs. While that’s technically still true– the paper hasn avoided the institution crippling cuts that many of its lesser brethren have faced– this week brought with it a major sign of These Troubled Times.
Writing about itself (in the third person, of course!), The Times said: “The New York Times Company budget plans announced Thursday, including a temporary 5 percent pay cut for most employees, should avert newsroom staff cuts at the flagship Times newspaper this year.” (Notice the rather large loophole for layoffs at other Times Co. papers in saying “at the flagship Times newspaper.”) Also accompanying these lovely pay cuts will be involuntary vacation days for a large chunk of the staff.
Unfortunately, something tells me that exposing your sickly pale journalists’ skin to the sunlight on one of these vacations won’t be so much fun after all.
No More Paper 