KQED/San Francisco Lays Off 20

Cutbacks

The latest public broadcaster to make cutbacks in the face of the pandemic is KQED INC., licensee of News-Talk KQED-F and PBS affiliate KQED-TV/SAN FRANCISCO, which is laying off 20 staff members and reducing the hours of some other employees while senior leadership takes a 12% pay cut, Pres./CEO MICHAEL ISIP told staff in an email this week.

Salary increases are also off the table for 2020, although union negotiations may affect that position, and "non-essential" staffers will be required to take furloughs DECEMBER 28-31 and JULY 6-9. KQED will also drop its employer match of 403(b) contributions as of OCTOBER 1st.

The cuts, an attempt to address a $7.1 million budget gap for the fiscal year beginning OCTOBER 1st, represent 5.5% of the stations' workforce.

The cuts include part-time Managing Editor PAUL ROGERS, another full-time limited term journalist, two temporary members of the science team, and 18 others. The station also said that it will still be hiring for open positions and the laid-off employees would be welcome to apply for the slots.

« see more Net News