It Could Have Been Worse At the Mercury-News, But Isn't It Already Bad Enough?

Layoffs, Buyouts Reduce Already-Emaciated Ranks By Another Five Percent


Today was when employees at The San Jose Mercury-News were told to wait by the phone at home to find out if they still had a job.
In the end, 34 employees were pink-slipped that way, while another 16 took buyouts. That brings the newsroom headcount down to about 180, less than half of what it was in 2000.
There had been previous staff reductions in 2006 and 2007. We'll have to wait and see whether these are the only roster buzzcuts this year.
Given the state of the economy, that's far from a sure thing, as opposed to the guarantee that just about anybody still at the Mercury-News, especially those who remember what once was, isn't happy they're still there.