The other shoe dropped at Newsweek today when it offered voluntary buyouts to about 30 employees covered by the Newspaper Guild contract.
The merger of Newsweek, owned by Sidney Harman, with IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Daily Beast was completed last month, forming a new joint venture called The Newsweek Daily Beast.
“The buyout offer was put out this morning,” said Bill O’Meara, president of the Newspaper Guild of New York, which represents about 90 Newsweek staffers.
He said not everyone was offered the chance to take the buyout and that it is entirely voluntary.
“The expectation is that less than 10 people will take it,” he said.
Insiders expect the dot-com side of Newsweek will be particularly hard hit.
The news comes as Newsweek Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown has begun giving ad execs a peek at the prototype for the redesigned Newsweek that is expected to hit at some point in the next few months.