The Tampa Bay Times, beset by many of the same revenue challenges facing local news providers across the country, announced Tuesday it needed to reduce payroll by 20%, part of a series of cost-cutting measures.
The Times, the recipient of 14 Pulitzer Prizes, said it would offer buyouts to its roughly 270 full-time employees, which includes about 100 journalists in the newsroom.
In a letter to Times staff, Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty said employees have until Aug. 16 to decide if they want to seek a buyout package that maxes out at 12 weeks pay.
Layoffs would follow later this month if the savings fall short of the target, Gallaty wrote. Some of the reductions may come from eliminating unfilled vacant positions.
Gallaty said top executives are taking 10% pay cuts through the end of the year. Gallaty himself will cut his pay 20%.
The Times also plans to make changes to its products over the coming months. Those measures have yet to be spelled out. But Gallaty assured that the newspaper will still publish in print on Wednesdays and Sundays.
The last time the Times made cuts this steep was in 2020 when two rounds of job reductions occurred around the time the newspaper shifted to two days of print delivery amid the surging COVID pandemic. Pay was reduced temporarily for all employees.
More job cuts, mostly on the print operations side, followed a year later when Times Publishing Co. — which includes the daily newspaper, the community news group Tampa Bay Newspapers Inc. and the business magazine Florida Trend — outsourced the bulk of its press operations and sold its St. Petersburg printing plant.
Since then, it has been a period of relative calm in which the Times won two Pulitzer Prizes. But print advertising and circulation have declined steadily and digital revenue growth hasn’t made up for the shortfall.
The announced job losses come after the Times took note of its 140th anniversary last month by mailing gift cards to workers.
“While sharing this news as we mark our 140th anniversary is disappointing, we are committed to ensuring the Times can continue its dedication to robust local journalism,” said Gallaty, adding, “I am confident we will emerge from this challenging period as a more focused and sustainable company.”