The Boston Globe. (AP Photo)
The Boston Globe on Thursday underwent a staff reduction for the second year running as the newspaper seeks to cut costs and deploy more resources toward its digital efforts.
According to multiple sources at The Globe, at least 10 employees are being laid off, with more than a dozen staffers accepting buyouts.
In an email, Boston Globe Editor Brian McGrory said the newspaper had “nothing to announce at the moment.”
The layoffs, which have been anticipated by Globe staffers for some time, come several months after the Globe announced a buyout program seeking volunteers to trim headcount at the newspaper.
At the end of July, McGrory said in a note to staffers that the newspaper was seeking to streamline its copy desk and alter its Web production, layout and design processes.
“It will mean that most stories will get fewer reads, placing more responsibility on reporters and line editors to make sure they’re in good shape,” McGrory wrote. “It means that rather than a copy desk, we will have a multiplatform production desk where stories are copy edited, posted on line, perhaps placed in the social stream, and later set on pages for print.”
In his announcement to staffers earlier this year, McGrory gave several indicators of the Globe’s financial health: It has no debt, he said, no pension obligations and an owner that isn’t seeking to maximize profits at the expense of the company’s journalism.
This is the second staff reduction to hit The Boston Globe since Boston businessman John Henry purchased the newspaper in 2013. Henry, who also owns the Red Sox, bought The Boston Globe and its affiliates for $70 million. In 2014, Henry hired advertising executive Mike Sheehan to be the company’s CEO, placing him in charge of day-to-day business operations.
Since Henry’s purchase of The Globe, the company has launched sites focused on specific subjects aimed at various niche markets. In 2014, the Globe debuted Beta Boston, a site with coverage of Boston-area startups and Crux, a site devoted to coverage of Catholicism. A new publication dedicated to coverage of medical news is currently in production, but likely won’t be unveiled for months.
Correction: A previous version of this story said The Globe newsroom was undergoing layoffs “for the second year running.” Last year’s staff reduction was achieved through voluntary buyouts.
