GR Press, Kzoo Gazette to lay off 223

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Grand Rapids Press and the Kalamazoo Gazette will lay off more than 200 workers combined as part of a massive corporate overhaul, according to letters sent to the state early this month.

The Grand Rapids Press will lay off 146 employees in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) letter sent to Manager of the Workforce Investment Act Stephanie Beckhorn on Nov. 2.

According to another Nov. 2 letter, the Kalamazoo Gazette will lay off 77 employees.

The 223 positions being terminated range from officer managers and clerks, to press operators and technicians, to sales people and editors.

Both layoffs will be effective Jan. 2, 2012.

The letters were sent in compliance with the WARN Act, which went into effect in 1989. WARN requires employers to provide 60 days notice in advance of mass layoffs. The notification must be sent to either union leaders or the appropriate state agency, as well as the local government.

Both the Press and Gazette are owned by the same newspaper company, Booth Newspapers.

Announced in the same letters as the layoffs was the news that two new companies would be created.

The new companies will be MLive Media Group, which will deal with content, sales and marketing; and Advance Central Services, which will manage production, distribution, purchasing, accounting, human resources and support functions for MLive Media Group.

The news comes shortly after the Grand Rapids Press and Kalamazoo Gazette, along with the Muskegon Chronicle, announced they would reduce the number of days they delivered newspapers to customers' homes.

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Read the WARN letters:

The Grand Rapids Press WARN letter (pdf) -- woodtv.triton.net/news/GRPressWARNletter.pdf

The Kalamazoo Gazette WARN letter (pdf -- woodtv.triton.net/news/KalamazooGazetteWARNletter.pdf