WEIDER STAFF IN LOCAL OFFICE IS CUT BY 60 MOVE COMES AFTER PURCHASE.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer WOODLAND HILLS - Less than a week after celebrating their successful merger with American Media Inc., 60 employees in Weider Publications' local office found themselves out of a job. Executives, support staff and Internet workers had been celebrating the sale of the health and fitness magazine publisher. Flush with $350 million from the transaction, which left the firm in the hands of tabloid publisher American Media, co-founder Joe Weider Josef E. "Joe" Weider (born November 29, 1922) is the Canadian co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) along with brother Ben Weider and creator of the Mr. Olympia, Ms. Olympia and the now defunct Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. cut checks to thank his employees after the sale closed last Thursday. By Tuesday, 80 Weider employees nationwide had been given a pink slip. ``I've always believed whatever changes you have to make, you make right away,'' said David Pecker, American Media's chairman, president and chief executive officer. ``Then, you can get onto business.'' He estimates the cuts will save him $10 million a year, allowing him to consolidate work forces between his new operations at Shape, Muscle & Fitness, Men's Fitness Men’s Fitness is a men’s magazine published by American Media, Inc. Founded in the United States in 1987, it was originally called Sports Fitness. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television show, The Greatest American Hero. and Flex and his flagship National Enquirer En`quir´er n. 1. See Inquirer. Noun 1. enquirer - someone who asks a question asker, inquirer, querier, questioner and Star supermarket tabloids. Accountants, human resource specialists, marketers, Internet staff and new business development workers all found themselves jobless as of Wednesday morning. Former president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Russell Denson and the other top executives also lost their jobs. ``I'm the chairman and president, so I don't need another president,'' Pecker said. ``These were all duplicate functions. This is it. There are no more plans to move anyone.'' In addition to the local job loss, American Media cut 20 workers in the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Boston offices. Pecker said all had been offered severance pay Severance Pay Compensation that an employer gives to someone who is about to lose their job. Notes: Severance pay is not always paid to employees. It depends on the situation in which the employee is losing their job and whether legislation requires severance to be paid. and Denson, who was unavailable for comment, and the other executives left amicably. ``They'll have something to cover them for a few months,'' he said. ``It's unfortunate, since this is a very difficult time, but that's just how you do business today.'' Though the sudden cuts left some employees upset, journalism professor William Drummond William Drummond can refer to:
See also Berzerkley, BSD. http://berkeley.edu/. Note to British and Commonwealth readers: that's /berk'lee/, not /bark'lee/ as in British Received Pronunciation. , said the inclusion of severance was a bonus not always seen in mergers. He did note, however, that American Media generally rewards its employees well. ``Their reputation is that they pay top dollar and take care of their employees very well,'' Drummond said. ``When you acquire a company, there's no fiduciary responsibility to the junior partner. Usually they're the ones that get it in the neck, it's only a question of when.'' |
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