Blood in the desert*

The Desert Sun of Palm Springs is part of the massive Gannett chain of newspapers. As such, the paper expected to play its part in the mandatory Gannett-wide workforce reduction plan. Looks like the paper will lose 16 employees to fulfill its quota.

From the Desert Sun:

The Desert Sun today notified 16 full- and part-time employees that their positions had been eliminated as part of cost reductions previously announced by parent company, Gannett Co. Inc.

-snip-

The eliminated positions came from across the organization, and were not limited to any one department.

Gannett's goal is to cut 10 percent of its staff, or about 3,000 employees.

*UPDATED: I'm told the Desert Sun lost four from the newsroom - two from the graphics department lost their jobs and two unfilled positions appear to have been eliminated. Also, the total number of layoffs is 15, according to the publisher's memo.

Here's the memo from Publisher Rich Ramhoff:

To all employees:

By now, I’m sure you’re all aware that we have begun the layoffs previously announced by our corporate office. All affected employees will be informed by the end of today. We are saying goodbye to 15 full- and part-time employees. The positions came from across the organization, and were not limited to any one department.

The folks who are leaving us have been good employees. We thank them for their service and we wish them well. This position elimination has nothing to do with performance, and they can apply for appropriate job openings if they become available.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m confident that our local economy will recover, and we will thrive along with our neighbors once this recession is over. We still have the strongest team in the Valley covering news and serving our advertising customers.

I thank all of you for your patience and commitment throughout these tough times.

As always, if you have any questions, please ask your department director or give me a call or email.

- Rich Ramhoff