I got a pink slip

[mrskippy]

:(

What a sucky day. I walk into work, get called into my bosses office and get handed a layoff notice. No warning that there was any problems or anything. And this at a newspaper that was already cut to the bone.

Anyway I'm on the unemployment line. So if you know anyone that needs a reporter, a PR guy, or any other communication related worker ... give me a holler.

Skippy

[Franklinnoble]

Damn... that sucks, dude. Sorry to hear that...

monster.com, baby... I've found every job I've ever had there.

[Daimyo]

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with the search.

[KWhit]

Good luck. I just got laid off about 2 weeks ago. It sucks big time.

[Vince]

Sorry to hear that Skippy...good luck. My dad just yesterday found a job after being out of work for 3 weeks...rough times.

[CamEdwards]

ouch. sorry to hear it man. I'll keep my eyes out, but I'm assuming you want to stay in CA?

[mrskippy]

Cam ... I'd probably go anywhere, if I found the right job.

[Bee]

sorry to hear about it Skippy. Hopefully it leads to something better for you in the end.

[Craptacular]

Good luck. We could always use some more, uhh, conservative members of the media in Madison.

[Ben E Lou]

Bummer.

[tucker342]

that sucks:(

good luck finding a new job

[SplitPersonality1]

I can see if there is anything available in the Milwaukee area. I know a few people that could sniff around here for you.

Good luck

[Buzzbee]

I'm very sorry to hear it. I wish you the best of luck in finding something soon. And I sincerely hope you find something that you truly enjoy doing.

[Franklinnoble]

What part of CA are you in?

[mrskippy]

Manteca

[sachmo71]

Sorry to hear that, skippy.

[JPhillips]

Good luck. Maybe we should establish a layed off forum for those of us that have gone through it in the past year.

[MizzouRah]

Sorry to hear that as well. Being an IT person, it sucks going up to someone's desk and taking their pc as they are leaving.

Hopefully, something will turn up for you.


Todd

[Fidatelo]

Good luck. I might be 70 days away from the same fate, I'm not looking forward to it :(

[Fritz]

sorry to hear that mrskippy. just remember that change always has the potential to be for the better.

[detroit_fan]

Try to enjoy the time off, I'm sure you'll find something sooner than you think.

[Franklinnoble]

Did they give you some severence pay?

I have no idea where Manteca is... I moved to Placerville about a year ago, and am still a novice to California geography.

[mrskippy]

Franklinnoble ...

Manteca is near Stockton, about an hour south of Sacramento. I'm about 90 minutes or so from Hangtown (Placerville).

And yeah, surpisingly, I did get some severence pay.

[Swaggs]

Sorry to hear that.

[clintl]

Sorry to hear this - good luck with the job search.

[ice4277]

That sucks man, I know how you feel, I am getting laid off from one of my jobs tomorrow as well :( I also am in a communications field, radio, and its tough as hell to even get a sniff right now. Good luck man.

[Fritz]

at first I thought "Mrs Kippy" was going to admit he was a transvestite.

[bbor]

Good luck Skip

[mrskippy]

Hey the AP picked up the story ... 49 cut, including 13 (hmmmm) reporters it seems.

ANG Newspapers lays off 49 employees
Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. -ANG Newspapers laid off 7 percent of its work force on Thursday, citing a stagnant economy.

"It has become clear through our strategic planning process that we will need to contract slightly before we can grow again," Beverly Jackson, president and publisher, said in an April 30 letter to employees. "The first step of that process will occur May 1, when ANG's work force will be reduced by 7 percent."

In an interview Thursday, Jackson said 49 employees from the six community newspapers ANG owns in the San Francisco Bay area were laid off. They came from every division within the company, including advertising, circulation and editorial, she said.

"Just as our advertisers and customers are suffering the consequences of a slow economy, we have to paticipate and share in that," Jackson said.

Sean Holstege, a reporter at the Oakland Tribune and vice president of the Northern California Media Workers Union Local 39521, said he received a list of 13 guild-covered editorial employees who lost their jobs. The guild represents about 180 staffers at the six ANG-owned newspapers, which besides the Tribune, include the San Mateo County Times and The Argus, which serves Fremont.

"It was totally out of the blue," Holstege said. "I was given notice at 10 o'clock this morning. They came in and their e-mail and phones didn't work."

Holstege said it didn't appear the cuts were based on seniority or performance.

"ANG has been consolidating for quite some time already," he said. "All year we've been seeing people leaving and they're replacing fewer than those who left. They've reached the bottom of that barrel ... They had to go to layoffs."

Jackson, who only took over as publisher five weeks ago after serving as vice-president of the Dow Jones Co.'s community newspaper group in New York, said that between the layoffs and not filling vacant positions, she intends to "reshape" ANG's workforce by about 10 percent.

"The company has grown a lot, and my job is to look at all our holdings in Northern California and come up with a new working model that is not only responsive to the community, but meets a responsible return on investment," she said

ANG Newspapers owns the Oakland Tribune, the Alameda Times-Star, the Tri-Valley Herald, The Daily Review, The Argus and the San Mateo County Times. The papers have a combined circulation of about 227,000.

[Chief Rum]

Ouch, sorry to hear that, skippy. Looks like the same thing happened to you that happened to me at the Times two years ago.

You probably already know this, but just in case you don't, check out the cnpa.com web site (the California Newspaper Publishers Association). They have a classified jobs listing page for jobs in the "industry" if you want to stay relatively local and in the paper biz. It's updated every two weeks or so with new editions, and is constantly updated with individual job listing additions.

Chief Rum