Newspaper publisher Gannett, responsible for over 80 publications including USA Today, will be cutting close to 700 jobs this week due to lagging ad revenue.
According to an internal memo, the job reductions account for about 2 percent of the company’s 32,600 employees. USA Today, which endured cutbacks last summer, was spared this round.
The cuts affect various newspapers across Gannett’s Community Publishing division, including The Arizona Republic, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Indianapolis Star.
“With many of our local advertisers reducing their overall budgets, we need to take further steps to align our costs with the current revenue trends,” Robert J. Dickey, president of the Community Publishing division wrote in a memo to Gannett employees.
The company will also put employees making over a specific amount in order on furlough in a bid to limit future layoffs.
These layoffs are the most dramatic in two years for Gannett. According to Bloomberg, the company’s revenue has dropped nearly 30 percent in the past 4 years from $7.44 billion in 2007 to $5.44 billion in 2010.
