USA Today To Trim Staff Via Buyouts

USA TODAY announced Wednesday that it will offer buyout packages to veteran employees to trim staffing, its latest effort to cut costs and invest more in digital products amid a plan by parent company Gannett to spin off the publishing business as a separate company.

The offer applies to about 90 employees across all departments at USA TODAY, which currently has about 600 employees.

USA TODAY didn't say if it had a target for the number of jobs it seeks to cut. "Regardless of the acceptance level of the Early Retirement Opportunity Program, we cannot rule out other actions that we may need to take in the future because of economic and business conditions," wrote USA TODAY Publisher Larry Kramer in a memo to the staff.

The buyouts will be offered to staffers in all departments who are 55 and over and have worked at Gannett for at least 15 years. If they accept, they will receive one and a half to two weeks of pay for each year worked, capped at 52 weeks. They will be eligible to receive health care benefits while they receive payment from the company.