Friday, August 7, 2009

Layoffs hurt those already hurting

Reflecting on the limited information I have about the most recent layoffs at the Wilson Times leads to some troubling impressions. A number of the people who were laid off either had health problems of their own or had dependents on the company insurance who had health problems. Among those names I've been told about are one former employee with diabetes and a heart condition, who probably can't get personal health insurance; a former employee with a recently diagnosed chronic disease; and a former employee with a handicapped child. Employees like that drive up group insurance rates, and that increases the employer's costs. I worry about what these people will do. Finding a job past a certain age is extremely difficult, to which I can testify, and COBRA coverage is time-limited and expensive. Some of these people will be eagerly hoping that Congress passes a health plan that will cover them, and quickly.
I have no reason to think that insurance costs factored into layoff decisions, but eliminating employees with these conditions will probably cut the company's health insurance premiums, and cutting costs is what these layoffs are all about.
Other layoffs involved people in senior management positions — people who were being paid the most. Laying off these employees saves more money than laying off the same number of lower-paid, junior employees. That's not an uncommon strategy in retrenchments, although some unions have a "last hired, first fired" agreement to protect senior workers.
Layoffs are always a painful event in any industry. In the news business, where layoffs have become common across the country recently, it's especially sad because these layoffs reduce the the news media's ability to fill its traditional "watchdog" role, leave the public less informed and give corrupt public officials greater latitude to get away with shenanigans.
Lest you get the impression that all newspapers are chopping staff by half, as the Wilson Times has done, other papers, while hurting, are not that bad off. I talked to a former colleague Thursday, whose newspaper in another N.C. city is "doing fine," absorbing a little decline in ad sales but maintaining staff and news coverage. The continuing massacre of jobs at the Wilson Times is far beyond the industry norm.

6 comments:

Keith Taylor said...

Looks like the management's philosophy is "destroy the paper in order to save it."

Anonymous said...

You would NEVER see an editorial in the WDT (or other places) like this about any other company that layed people off in Wilson. And there have been many opportunities.

Erstwhile Editor said...

Two points:
A. This medium is not a newspaper and does not run editorials.
B. My post was not an editorial; it was a blog, i.e. a "web log," which is more similar to a private diary (although posted electronically for others to read) than to a newspaper.
This blog, like most blogs, consists of personal observations. Because I know personally most of the people affected by this action, I feel justified in sharing my observations and concerns.
Newspapers do cover layoffs. I can remember a number of layoff stories during my career. Occasionally, these stories might prompt an editorial. A newspaper's layoffs are more of a public topic because a newspaper is the most public of private businesses, and its employees are often in the middle of public events and public discussions.

Anonymous said...

Once again, there was NEVER any lament of the workers' personal plight in any "editorials" in the past. The only coverage or opinion written has historically been "That's the way it is" with an air towards siding with the employer.

A layoff is a layoff. Doesn't matter what the industry. People still suffer.

Anonymous said...

2 of the people that were laid off were also the last hired.

Anonymous said...

Some papers may be "doing fine," but they appear to be in the minority these days.

here's a depressing link to paper cutbacks that includes those made at the WDT: http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/houston-chronicle-buries-own-layoff-story.html