Newsday Media Group is laying off employees as the pandemic has accelerated plummeting advertising. The number of staff members being made redundant has not been disclosed.
Publisher Debby Krenek said the layoffs will only impact non-newsroom departments, such as advertising, information technology, marketing and such.
Currently, the company has a workforce of 650.
“It is clear after the pandemic that the declines in advertising revenue we’ve seen in the past year will remain a challenge,” Krenek said in an email to employees. “We find that we must make the difficult decision to eliminate roles in certain areas to strengthen the financial stability of the company and to allow us to continue to invest in the growth areas of the business.”
As per Newsday:
“The severance package for full-time employees includes two weeks’ pay for every year of service up to a maximum of 52 weeks of pay and a minimum of three months’ pay for employees with less than one year of service, health insurance for three months, and outplacement services to secure new employment.”
The layoffs are effective Jan. 29, though some employees will continue working through March.
