Buyouts

Yesterday, the head of my newspaper announced a 6 percent payroll cut, which means 20-25 people have to go. They'll do voluntary buyouts first, then layoffs if they don't get enough people.
I'd take a buyout because I'm leaving at the end of July anyway, but the severance is a week's pay for every year of service. Despite the fact that I have worked at the Register Star for close to 4 years combined, they would only recognize my last stint, which isn't quite two years. So I'd get a sweet one week of pay! Not leaving for that.
Anyway, it sucks because we haven't done layoffs in about a generation. Our core revenues, meaning revenue from ad sales and subscriptions in the actual print daily newspaper, are down 17 percent. Ouch.
Our other products (internet, specialty publications, commercial print jobs) are doing fine and of course, we still make money. I'm guessing double-digit returns. But that's not good enough in an industry used to 30-35 percent profits. So buh-bye to some long-term employees.
I picked the right time to get out of this miserable industry.