Layoffs at Register

Publisher Terry Horne says they'll be happening over the next few weeks, across all departments, but no number was given. Also announced were five-day furloughs, part of a company-wide leave ordered by the Register's parent, Freedom Communications. The mandatory leave must be taken between April 1 and June 30. From the paper's posting:

“Orange County Register Communications has already taken significant measures to reduce costs and generate new sources of revenue since the recession began in December of 2007,” [Publisher Terry Horne] said in a letter to staff. “As we near the end of a very challenging first quarter of 2009, it’s clear we must take even more aggressive actions to balance spending with the revenues we are generating.”

The Register went through six rounds of staff reductions last year. As of last fall, the company had about 1,230 employees. The newsroom staff totals about 240 people. By the way, more layoffs at the LAT are expected the first part of next week. As Kevin noted earlier, many of the cuts are likely to involve editors. There are also a number of people being shuffled from one department to another.