Johnston Press has introduced a voluntary redundancy scheme in which staff are being promised an "enhanced" pay-off package.
In a statement issued by the regional publisher today, its chief executive, Ashley Highfield, explains the need for more redundancies. He is quoted as saying:
"We announced a set of healthier results to the City in August, which included a return to operating profit growth, strong digital revenues and increases in overall audience.
To ensure we are in a solid position for continued growth we need to be constantly reviewing our business structure and rescaling where appropriate.
We have already taken many prudent measures to ensure we hit our financial targets and we will continue to explore different options for our employees to consider.
With that in mind we are today announcing an enhanced voluntary redundancy programme."
But it will not apply to all staff. Employees responsible for generating advertising revenue and those working in digital will be excluded. And there may be other exceptions at local level among the company's 204 newspapers.
Staff have until 25 October to apply. They will also be able to volunteer to work more flexibly, such as reducing their hours or taking a career break.
No details of the enhancement were released by Johnston Press.
