Times will reduce staff, freeze pay

ST. PETERSBURG – The St. Petersburg Times will offer an enhanced retirement option to reduce its payroll and, depending on response, could resort to layoffs later this year. The newspaper also is imposing a one-year wage freeze for remaining employees.

In a letter to staff, Times editor and chairman Paul Tash said the measures were a response to a “difficult economic climate” that has been especially hard on advertising, the largest source of newspaper revenue. Over the last two years, the Times’ fulltime staff has dropped from more than 1,500 to fewer than 1,300, mostly by attrition.

“We are navigating a period of historic change and challenge,” Tash said. “Getting through this stretch will not be easy, and it will take everyone’s best efforts, but I remain fully confident about our prospects."