New York Times offering buyouts

The New York Times said Wednesday that it would offer buyouts to newsroom employees and some business staffers but cannot rule out layoffs.

"In order to make essential investments while preserving our financial health, we need to do everything we can to contain and — where we can — reduce our costs," four Times executives said in an email to employees.

Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy said in an email that there is "no target number" for the cuts.

Layoffs, buyouts and cuts have become standard procedure for many companies with a heavy reliance on print revenues, which have declined precipitously in the digital era. The Times last offered buyouts in October 2014, when it cut about 100 positions.

Paste BN last year offered buyouts to 90 veteran employees across all departments.

Eligibility criteria for the latest round of Times buyouts was not disclosed. Offers will be distributed Tuesday.

The rise of digital news has "created great opportunity for The New York Times," which now has nearly 2.5 million paid subscribers in print or digital throughout the world, the Times executives said in their email.

But, "there are real challenges as well.  Like the rest of the industry, we face long-term pressure in both print and traditional digital display advertising," said the executives, including Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., CEO Mark Thompson and Executive Editor Dean Baquet.

Times shares (NYT) rose 1 cent to $12.02 at 10:42 a.m.

The Times is aiming to double its digital revenue by 2020. Baquet recently outlined a plan to overhaul its newsroom structure to place less emphasis on the print planning process and refocus efforts on more dynamic, less traditional digital stories.

Follow Paste BN reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.