Under continued pressure to reduce costs, The Bee cut its work force on Wednesday by another 7 percent, this time through voluntary buyouts.
The Bee said 87 full- and part-time employees accepted a buyout offer that followed a previous round of layoffs and attrition in June that shrank the staff by 8 percent.
The buyouts went to 23 newsroom employees.
It wasn't clear whether that's the end of the staff cuts. At the time buyouts were offered, Publisher and President Cheryl Dell said more layoffs were possible if there weren't enough takers.
She said on Wednesday the paper won't know for a couple of weeks if the buyouts did the trick.
"I know there's anxiety with not having an answer today," she said.
The newspaper industry has been hobbled by the economic slump and competition from the Internet, prompting layoffs at almost every chain.
Revenue is down 15 percent this year at The Bee's parent, The McClatchy Co. of Sacramento. Advertising has fallen 22 percent at McClatchy's California papers.
McClatchy is also dealing with speculation about its future following the resignation last Friday of Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt as a co-trustee of four trusts that control much of the McClatchy family's company stock. Pruitt sharply denied a Wall Street Journal column Wednesday suggesting that his resignation was a first step toward a financial restructuring of the company.
"The company is working hard to navigate this period of transition in our industry, and we are continuing to make good progress on a number of fronts," he said. "I remain confident of McClatchy's future success."
In June, McClatchy imposed a first-ever companywide, 10 percent staff cut affecting all its newspapers. The move eliminated 86 jobs at The Bee, about half through layoffs.
As business conditions continued to weaken, McClatchy froze wages across the company, and 11 of its papers offered buyouts. The Bee extended buyout offers to 44 percent of its nearly 1,200 employees.
Dell said 93 workers applied for buyouts and six were turned down, all in the newsroom. Those who got rejected are in jobs "we couldn't lose," said Melanie Sill, editor and senior vice president.
Sill said the paper can still thrive, despite 10 percent of the news staff taking buyouts. "You take as many people as you have and say, 'How can we make the best possible paper?' … The mission remains the same," she said.
But she acknowledged the buyouts will affect the newsroom more directly than the June layoffs, which mostly spared reporters and editors. In the features department, 11 staffers are leaving, and "it's going to take us a while to figure out our strategy there," Sill said.
The buyouts offered two weeks' pay for every year of service.
Dell said many of those taking the buyouts will leave Friday, but some will work into November. She wouldn't say how much money the buyouts will save.
McClatchy's problems include $2 billion in debt from its 2006 purchase of Knight Ridder Inc. Along with the drop in revenue, the interest payments have cut profits in half. McClatchy might reduce its shareholder dividend.
McClatchy stock, which has fallen 85 percent in the past year, closed Wednesday at $3.39 a share, down 14 cents.
Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066.
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