Syracuse newspaper to lay off 115 employees

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Post-Standard of Syracuse says it will lay off 115 full- and part-time employees as it moves ahead with plans to combine print and online operations to form two new companies early next year.

Stephen Rogers, editor and publisher of The Post-Standard, announced Tuesday that managers at the newspaper and its online product, Syracuse.com, met with employees the previous day to discuss the changes.

He said 89 full-time and 26 part-time employees will be laid off and offered severance packages and help in finding new jobs. Rogers said 278 employees were offered positions in the new companies, Syracuse Media Group and Advance Central Services Syracuse, which will launch Feb. 1.

The layoffs come five weeks after the Post-Standard announced it would drop to three days a week in print in January.