Hearst offers buyout deal to employees at Chronicle

Hearst, the owner of The Chronicle, offered employees voluntary buyouts Tuesday in an effort to cut its expenses as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook for many businesses remained unclear.

“This is a voluntary program,” Chronicle Publisher Bill Nagel said in an email. “The events of the past seven months have affected us all in different ways, and some colleagues may be considering a lifestyle or career change, which we hope this offer could help them achieve.”

The buyout offer was two weeks of pay for every year of service, with a minimum of 13 weeks’ pay and a maximum of 62 weeks. In addition, Hearst would pay health insurance premiums under the law known as Cobra during the severance period.

Managers said there was no set goal for the number of buyouts and no plans for layoffs if an insufficient number of buyout offers were made and accepted. Employees must request a buyout by Nov. 2 and will learn if they have been accepted by Nov. 13. The company may decline requests from

“The pandemic has hit our business like other businesses.”

Bill Nagel, San Francisco Chronicle publisher

employees it wishes to retain.

“The pandemic has hit our business like other businesses, but we’re optimistic about the future, especially the growth in our digital subscriptions,” Nagel said, adding that such subscriptions have seen “tremendous growth.”

Many publishers have made big cuts to their newsrooms as advertising sales have declined during the pandemic. Hearst CEO Steven Swartz in April announced that its newspaper group would not see furloughs or layoffs as a consequence of the health crisis.

Hearst is a diversified media company based in New York City. Besides its newspaper division, it owns magazines, broadcasting, software and information businesses.