Layoffs coming at BusinessWeek?

Stephanie Clifford at the New York Times has an internal BusinessWeek memo that details layoffs should the magazine be sold.

Clifford writes, “The document then details exactly where those layoffs will come from.

“‘The following table outlines the total number of employees by function as of April 30, 2009, and pro forma for the impact of the Performance Improve [sic] Plan,’ the document says. (The ‘Performance Improvement Plan’ is the name for the company’s cost-cutting plan. And ‘pro forma’ is a type of accounting BusinessWeek uses in the document to show projected results that include the cuts outlined in this plan.)

“According to the table, in editorial, 55 of 217 positions are supposed to be eliminated. Of sales, 9 of 69. Of marketing, 6 of 26. Of technology, 8 of 33. Of circulation, just one of 19. And in the “other” category, 6 of 57. That’s a total of 85 eliminations among 421 jobs — about 20 percent — leaving 336 BusinessWeek employees.

“‘BusinessWeek will establish a leaner, entrepreneurial staff without affecting the brand, positioning of the franchise or revenue outlook. The eliminations of editorial staff are primarily in editorial support operations (makeup and copy desk), but also include a reduction in the number of journalists to reflect the smaller folio size of the publication. The positions eliminated in sales are primarily for sales support, but also include some consolidation of integrated sales account managers. The remaining positions eliminated are in other business support functions.'”

Read more here.