The Associated Press will reduce its global workforce by 8 percent by offering voluntary buyouts to some staff members, including more than 120 across the United States, and eliminating some positions, according to the non-profit news agency and a union representing workers.
Fewer than half of the lost jobs will be in the AP’s news division, the wire service’s president, Daisy Veerasingham, said Monday in an email to staff that was obtained by the Globe.
“We will offer a voluntary separation plan to a small number of eligible staff, based on department, role and length of employment,” Veerasingham said in the message. “We have reached a tentative agreement with the News Media Guild to extend this offer to some union staff in the U.S. That agreement is subject to union ratification. If you are eligible for the voluntary plan, you will be notified via email by the end of the day.”
The AP is offering buyouts to 116 employees in its US editorial unit and five workers in its US technology division, according to Tony Winton, administrator of the News Media Guild, which includes a bargaining unit called the AP News Guild that represents US journalists and technicians at the news organization.
“They can say no, and I expect a number of them will,” Winton said in an interview. He said the union had negotiated the buyouts with management in an effort to avoid layoffs. “It’s better to have people raise their hands,” he said.
According to Winton, the AP has agreed that “all separations would take place after January,” but has not given the union a specific date. Buyout offers will include a severance package based on length of service and a COBRA subsidy to help workers continue their health insurance, he said.
The buyout offers will affect “every aspect of the company” across the United States and throughout job classifications, he said. The job cuts follow years of buyouts and layoffs across the industry, he said.
“These are dark days for journalism everywhere,” Winton said. “Every organization that I can think of has been hit with this.”
Veerasingham said the staff cuts were necessary because the industry is changing rapidly and the AP must “accelerate on [a] path” toward a greater focus on online news.
“The bulk of the changes will come in the U.S., where we remain committed to our 50-state footprint but must evolve to align with changing customer and market needs,” she said.
In a statement, the AP said it is “taking proactive steps, including making some staff reductions, as we focus on meeting the evolving needs of our customers.
“This is about ensuring AP’s important role as the only truly independent news organization at scale during a period of transformation in the media industry,” the organization said.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him @jeremycfox.
