Buyouts & Layoffs At WBUR/Boston
• Boston University’s WBUR has become the latest in a sadly growing list of public radio stations having to make some hard choices in the wake of budgetary challenges. On Wednesday, CEO Margaret Low announced that seven people were being laid off, and 24 staff members chose to take voluntary buyouts. All told, about 14% of the station’s staff could be negatively impacted, according to a WBUR report on the situation.
The seven people being laid off include three part-time employees. They will leave before the end of June, according to Low. She also announced that nine unfilled positions are being eliminated, travel costs are being reduced, and the station is negotiating lower rates on contracted services.
According to Boston.com, four members of the station’s senior leadership team took buyouts: Executive Director of Business Partnerships Pete Matthews, Sr. Director of Finance Del Reese, Director of Membership & Campaign Strategy Mike Steffon, and Executive Director of Engineering, Operations & IT Karl Voelker.
Laid-off workers will get four weeks of severance as well as an extra week of pay for each year that they spent at the station. The large number of employees who took buyouts allowed WBUR to limit the number of layoffs that were needed, Low said. Some who are being laid off could be rehired to fill other positions. While 20 additional staff members opted for buyouts, that number will not be finalized until May 1, the deadline for participants to fully commit. Those who do commit will have their last day on May 10.
The blow to WBUR comes as the NPR affiliate struggles to withstand a serious decline in advertising revenue. Similar issues are happening nationwide — last year NPR trimmed 10% of its workforce; in February, American University’s WAMU/Washington, DC laid off 15 employees and shuttered its DCist website, and last month, Colorado Public Radio cut 15 jobs in its audio production and podcast divisions.
