The San Francisco Chronicle has offered buyouts to employees in an apparent effort to cut headcount, Gazetteer SF has learned.
Chronicle staffers were told about the buyouts on October 1 in memos from publisher Bill Nagel and Jeff Johnson, a senior vice president in charge of newspapers at Chronicle parent company Hearst. The buyouts are a result of what Johnson described as “being as efficient as possible to support further investment and meet our business objectives” in 2025.
“As I’ve mentioned in our All-Hands meetings, revenue has slowed and while we’ve been good stewards on expenses, 2025 is shaping up to be a challenging year,” Nagel wrote in his memo, which was obtained by Gazetteer SF.
The timing of the buyout proposal coincides with a deal Hearst announced earlier this week with OpenAI to fold in content from its various newspaper and magazine properties, including the Chronicle, into ChatGPT and other OpenAI products. So far, the newspaper’s public-facing AI use has focused on things like chatbots for food recommendations and Kamala Harris inquiries.
All full-time employees in the Chronicle's editorial, circulation, marketing, HR, finance, and advertising divisions are eligible to apply. Employees chosen for the buyout will receive two weeks of pay for each year of service, with a minimum of 13 weeks of pay and a maximum of 52 weeks of pay. COBRA premiums will also be covered for the duration of the severance period, but may not be applicable to employees age 65 or older because “Medicare becomes their primary insurance,” the memo said.
Employees have been given until October 15 to apply for the buyout, and will be notified by October 29 if they’ve been approved.
Management has insisted there are no target goals for staff cuts, suggesting layoffs will not follow this buyout round. Still, some staffers at the city's paper of record are rattled by the move, and the lack of transparency surrounding it.
In an Oct. 3 all-hands meeting, Chronicle editor-in-chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz had few clarifying details about the terms of the buyout, according to one Chronicle employee who was there.
Employees have received limited information about the terms of the buyout. Approved workers will be required to sign a "Confidential Separation Agreement" to access severance benefits. It has not been made clear if a non-disparagement clause, a confidentiality clause, or something similar will be required. Employees who decline to sign the agreement will still be “terminated by reason of submitting the program application form as your resignation," according to Nagel's memo.
Representatives for the Pacific Media Workers Guild, the union that represents Chronicle editorial staff, have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board Wednesday due to these concerns.
“The only option you have at that point is either to sign the separation agreement and get your severance, or not sign it and lose your severance altogether and still lose your job and get nothing,” Hunter Paniagua, a representative for the Guild, told Gazetteer SF. “So, that puts people under pressure to sign away their rights because they need that severance.”
Nagel’s memo also cautioned that “the terms offered now will not be offered in the future.” “You’re essentially gambling when you apply,” the Chronicle employee told Gazetteer SF. “It’s double or nothing.”
Nagel and Garcia-Ruiz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gazetteer SF. The story will be updated if we hear back.
