The Sun Offers Employees Buyouts

The buyout will be offered to about 200 employees throughout the paper, said Michael E. Waller, publisher and chief executive. The company hopes to get between 70 and 80 workers to take the offer.

Remaining cuts will come from not filling open positions and from attrition. The paper, with about 1,700 employees, has left 60 position unfilled, Waller said.

If the newspaper does not achieve targeted expense cuts through buyouts and other cost controls, it will resort to layoffs, Waller said. A decision on layoffs will be made in early 2002.

The Sun offered voluntary buyouts a year ago, and 65 to 70 workers accepted.

The latest buyouts were announced a day after The Sun’s parent company, The Tribune Co., reported its revenue for November was down 7 percent from November 2000. Year-to-date revenue was also down 7 percent compared with a year ago.