ACBJ institutes pay freeze, cuts salaries by 5 percent

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

American City Business Journals, the owners of 40 business weekly newspapers across the country, announced Wednesday a 5 percent pay cut for employees making more than $35,000 a year and a freeze on existing salaries, according to an internal memo obtained by Talking Biz News.

In the memo, chairman Ray Shaw stated, “The start of 2009 has been the softest stretch that ACBJ has had during the 20 years I have been involved with the company. While thereâ€™s no question that we will remain profitable and rebound from this downturn, it is important that we take steps to cushion the impact of the slowdown as much as possible without harming the quality of our publications, online activities and other services.”

The freeze in pay will take effect on June 1. Each employee affected by a salary reduction will be given two additional paid personal days to be taken by the end of 2009

Later in the memo, Shaw stated, “We are temporarily modifying our policy regarding unpaid sabbatical leaves. Employees with five or more years at ACBJ may apply for a maximum two months leave, with one week each month being charged to vacation. Recommendations are to be made to publishers or unit operating heads with final approval from Charlotte. Certain management members will be excluded from such leaves.

“No open positions will be filled without my permission.

“Please contact your publisher or unit operating head if you have any questions about these matters.

“I thank all of you for what you contribute to make our company the exceptional place it is. We will emerge from this rough patch stronger than ever.”

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KingFriday says:
April 15, 2009 at 4:55 pm
"cushion the impact of the slowdown as much as possible without harming the quality of our publications, online activities and other services.â€ Yeah, cutting people's pay is bound to only improve things. I can't belive the bull so many newspapers are pedaling these days while they throw out their main resource and expect the few left behind to kill themselves. Well, the public (readers) notice. My local paper barely has any content, what's there is riddled with typos, errors and rough, dull design. It's not even thick enough any more to wrap a fish, line a bird cage or keep paint off the floor. You would expect people who have supposedly promoted themselves as the truthspeakers to not insult our intelligence with this "we will emerge stronger" crap. How, by rehiring all the people, by giving backpay for the freezes and pay cuts? No better than Bernie Maddoff or the smart guys at Enron.
unnamed says:
April 15, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I was a reporter for an ACBJ paper for five years and I can't say I'm surprised by this. When your revenue is driven by advertising - especially commercial real estate and banking - you're going to get hit by the recession. I left for more money at a related kind of company when the economy was roaring. I'd hate to see the pay now following Ray's cuts. More worrisome, I don't like the fact that they're going with more a skeleton crew at the local paper where I used to work, putting out slop when good meaty stories aren't THAT hard to find. Then again, there is a kind of groupthink when it comes to ACBJ story strategies that make one paper indistinguishable from the next. Maybe they like putting out boring papers.