The Tampa Bay Times is eliminating 60 jobs this month, 20% of its staff, citing revenue shortfalls compared to its 2024 business plan and limited prospects of improvement for the balance of the year.
The main revenue culprit has been less-than-expected print advertising revenue, CEO and president Conan Gallaty said in an interview. That income is still a major and profitable element in the newspaper’s finances, despite the Times publishing in print only on Wednesdays and Sundays.
The digital side of the operation continues to grow at a 20% annual rate, Gallaty added, but that does not make up the difference for the print declines.
The Times is offering a buyout package with an extra four weeks of severance pay to those who voluntarily choose to leave. Then the company will make additional layoffs, if necessary, to meet its target reduction by Aug. 31. Gallaty would not comment on how many of the cuts, if any, would be in the newsroom. That depends, in part, on who takes the buyouts, he said.
https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2024/tampa-bay-times-layoffs-buyouts-60-jobs/