Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Time to Go

A stern warning to anyone in publishing: even if your company is doing well financially, it doesn't mean there won't be downsizing, as the shifting media mix continues. To wit:
Time Inc. to Cut 100 More Jobs as It Focuses on Web Business

Time Inc., after eliminating 105 management jobs just before Christmas, is moving to cut about 100 more, including up to 10 at its flagship, Time magazine.

Both editorial and business-side employees are being cut at several of the company's domestic magazines. About 40 business-side employees were notified yesterday that they were losing their jobs, as were 26 editorial employees who are not in the Newspaper Guild.

...
Two of the titles most affected will be Time and Money magazines. But there will be cuts across the board, including at other Time Inc. brand names like Fortune, Sports Illustrated and Real Simple.

The cuts come as the company continues the reorganization it began late last year, when it sought to streamline its multilayered management structure. The current round of cuts is largely because of reallocation of resources as the company increases its online presence and consolidates some of its business functions, Ms. Bridges said. And some magazines must cut costs to bring expenses in line with revenues.

She said the cuts had less to do with any sluggishness in advertising and that, in fact, the financial picture to be reported tomorrow for Time Warner, the parent company, would be relatively bright.

"As you'll see Wednesday, we're in better shape than most," Ms. Bridges said. "But we're moving from being a magazine publishing company to a multiplatform media company, and we have to reallocate our assets. The people you need, the investments you need to make, are different if you're going to be building Web sites and making TV shows and doing wireless deals and events and partnerships."

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