Lachlan Carwright of Breaker reports that there’s growing concern at The Wall Street Journal that those being laid off are all older than 50.
Cartwright reports, “‘I have discerned a pattern in these firings and or coerced departures,’ lawyer Rob Housman, who represents several current and former Journal employees, tells Breaker. ‘They are targeting older, more experienced, higher-paid journalists. I also believe that part of it is they are targeting these people because they come with higher health care costs.’
“In recent weeks, WSJ veterans, including Features Editors Liz Rappaport, who had been at the Journal for two decades, and Ethan Smith, who had clocked up 22 years, were pink-slipped. Both Rappaport and Smith worked on the weekend section Exchange. Their departures follow senior Review Editor Adam Horvath, who was at The Journal for a quarter of a century and Director of Audience Development Jennifer Hicks who had been at the paper for 21 years.
“‘In the vast majority of cases that I’ve seen, they swiftly reassign a junior person to cover the beat, thereby capturing savings,’ Housman said. ‘Which is to say none of this is about performance in my view; it’s all about ringing an extra buck out.’
“Journal journalists who spoke with Breaker say they are miffed at the constant culling, especially for a publication that boasts they are profitable. It has some questioning whether publisher Almar Latour and News Corp CEO Robert Thomson are squeezing costs to make the Journal more appealing to a potential buyer.”
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