The New York Times Co. said Wednesday it is cutting 190 jobs at its flagship newspaper, The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The cuts represent about 1.5 percent of the company’s total work force.
About two-thirds of the job cuts will occur at the Times, with less than two dozen coming from the newsroom. The newsroom jobs will be eliminated through a voluntary program, while the others will be a mix of voluntary and involuntary job cuts.
Toby Usnik, a company spokesman, called the cuts “part of an ongoing effort to streamline our operations and lower costs. It’s partly a reflection of the advertising climate, which has been difficult over the past couple of years.”
Last month the company reported that revenues at the Times and The Boston Globe were flat to down in the first quarter on weakness in telecommunications and banking advertising. Excluding one-time effects, first quarter earnings fell to $43.2 million from $58.4 million in the same period a year ago.
The Times last made significant job cuts in April 2001, when it eliminated 9 percent of its work force, or about 1,200 jobs, Usnik said. At that time, advertising was slumping following the bust of the Internet bubble.
The company said in its statement that the staff cuts would be “carefully managed” in order to “not adversely affect journalistic quality, the smooth functioning of the Company’s daily operations and the ability to achieve its long-term strategic goals.”
In addition to the Times, the Globe and the Telegram & Gazette, the company also owns The International Herald Tribune, 15 smaller regional newspapers and eight network-affiliated TV stations. It recently acquired About Inc., a network of online consumer information sites, for about $410 million in cash.