Gannett to staff: Take weeklong unpaid furlough to save company

And the print media drumbeat continues. …

The Gannett Blog, an unofficial online watering hole for Gannett Co. news employees, reports that a companywide memo informed its staff today of mandatory, one-week unpaid furloughs during the current quarter. This news comes after the firm slashed more than 3,400 jobs last year, with nearly two-thirds of the cuts occurring in pre-holiday December.

Company officials say the furloughs are intended to help the news conglomerate avoid another rumored round of job cuts next month. Gannett owns 85 daily newspapers as well as non-daily papers and television stations across the country, according to the New York Times.

While no news sources have reported on how much Gannett intends to save in payroll expenses with the required time off, the Los Angeles Times raises a frightening thought: Forced furloughs are a source of wage deflation that can lead to further economic woes in a nation already rocked with a lingering recession.

Locally, Gannett publishes the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

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