Layoffs are coming at the ProJo

UPDATE: How many? 

Some ProJo insiders remain justifiably concerned that the pending layoffs could be greater in number than the difference between those taking the buyout (22) and the minimum target (35). The parent Belo Corporation has cited a company-wide plan to cut 500 jobs, and the rumored number of takers in Dallas is about 22-29. So while it's bad enough that Charlie Bakst, Mark Arsenault, and Scott MacKay are among those going, the potential bottom line could be very severe. Stay tuned.

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After a recently offered buyout failed to reach its 35-person goal, Providence Journal management has informed the Providence Newspaper Guild that layoffs "will be necessary."

According to a Guild e-mail to union members, the number of layoffs is not yet known, and further information will not be available until next week. Twenty-two Journal staffers, including some of the paper's top political writers, are among those who've agreed to take the buyout.

The Guild and the company plan to confer on how the union's contract language will apply to layoffs. The language has long been interpreted by some Guild members to mean that part-time workers would be the first to be laid off, followed by full-timers with the least seniority.

The last day on the job for Journal staffers who subscribed to the buyout is scheduled to be September 12.