Monday, March 23, 2009

Newspaper Job Loss Site Can't Keep Up

The Lousy Numbers Reported by Paper Cuts Are Even Worse

St. Louis Post-Dispatch graphic designer Erica Smith has been providing a valuable if somber public service for the better part of the year chronicling the inexorable contraction of the newspaper industry on her blog Paper Cuts.
Smith has been keeping close track of the job lost at American papers, and this year has identified at least 6,169, with the first quarter not even done.
And by the time you read this, that number will go higher. Today, Smith mentions the 82 layoffs at the Charlotte Observer, but so far has not tallied the 53 who will be leaving McClatchy sister paper the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Not that I'm faulting Smith, far from it. The job cuts -- along with the salary reductions for those who remain -- are simply coming too fast and furious.
Besides, she needs to concentrate more on her job. Fortunately, she still has one to go to. At least for now.

1 comment:

Sonia said...

I can't keep a job at all and I am really good at what I do. The last job from which I was fired, the reason being was that "I looked bored during the training session." Yeah, I LOOKED bored. The fact that I was previously trained on the companies computer system and the trainer was awful, so that everyone in the class was in fact bored, I was the only one fired. In my field so many people are fired for reasons thst are subjective and have nothing to do with one's ability to do the job. I have become bitter and am seeking mental guidance before I potentially kill my career.