The Virginian-Pilot
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The Virginian-Pilot, seeking to pare costs further to weather the recession, told its employees today that they would have five unpaid days off this year.
The five days will be Feb. 16, Presidents’ Day; April 10, Good Friday; May 22, the Friday before Memorial Day; Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving; and Dec. 24, the day before Christmas.
The action will eliminate one week of pay, reducing annual salaries by about 2 percent. It will not affect daily publication of the newspaper.
In a memo to employees, president and publisher Maurice Jones also said managers would not receive pay raises this year. Most employees of the newspaper did not receive raises in 2008. The Pilot, he wrote, also will discontinue its policy classifying birthdays as paid holidays. Employees, he said, may continue to take their birthday off without pay.
The Pilot and its affiliated companies cut 150 positions – or about 12 percent of its work force – late last year in the face of steep advertising declines.
“Based on our best forecasts, we look like we will fall short of our revenue goals for January and February,” Jones said. “In this climate, I thought, let’s move quickly to reduce costs in a way that doesn’t involve layoffs at this juncture.”
Dominion Enterprises, a marketing company based in Norfolk, earlier this month announced it would mandate the same five unpaid days off this year. Dominion Enterprises is owned by Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, which publishes The Pilot.
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That Blows
The above subject line pretty much sums it up. It seems like Landmark is using a Dixie cup to bail out a sinking ship. I'm sure at review time many employees will be getting the "You are lucky just to have a job. We appreciate your efforts" speech.
Sorry to all....
I'm really sorry to hear the bad news! You guys do a great job. Perhaps Incentive programs could be added to boost compensation like large software companies do. Whatever they decide...I for one appreciate what you guys do!
Good luck to the Pilot's employees
If this action contributes to fewer layoffs having to occur, good for them for instituting it.
That said, I've always been disappointed in the Pilot for not ever reporting on or investigating supposed business improvement initiatives like Six-Sigma. Not to apply to their own business, but to decide whether it's for real, or a fraud! Six-Sigma was all the rage just a few years back, lots of companies and corporations (including our local Ford plant when it was open) implemented it as the 'miracle' of business improvement. But the Pilot never did look into it. The only ones who ever benefited from Six-Sigma were the certifiers whose companies did the certifying, and those within the companies who were able to attach their 'star' to it. It remains an example of how leadership in companies surrendered their oversight on how to advance their companies and industries.