Times Co. will shed about 500 positions

Citing ''continued challenges" in attracting advertising revenues and an uncertain economic outlook, The New York Times Co., parent of The Boston Globe, said yesterday it would reduce its workforce by about 500 employees.

The company plans to shed 160 jobs at the New England Media Group, including 35 jobs in the Globe newsroom. The company said it would cut 45 positions from the The New York Times newsroom.

Times Co. and other newspaper publishers have been struggling as readers and advertisers flock to the Internet and other media. Many other papers have cut staff this year and are looking for other ways to reduce costs to weather what many newspaper executives view as a seismic industry restructuring. For Times Co., this was the second round of cuts this year; in May the company said it would cut about 200 jobs.

''Given the continued challenges in the advertising environment and the cloudy economic outlook for the remainder of the year, we believe it is prudent and necessary to initiate this additional reduction," Times Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and chief executive Janet L. Robinson said in a message to employees.

The cuts, which will reduce total Times Co. employment by 4 percent, are part of an industry cost-cutting trend. Knight-Ridder Inc. yesterday said it was eliminating 100 newsroom jobs at the Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister paper, the Philadelphia Daily News, because of lower circulation and revenue. The Boston Herald this year said it was eliminating about one quarter of its newsroom staff.

''We are facing not just a challenging business environment, but a rapidly changing one," Globe publisher Richard Gilman said in a memo to employees yesterday. ''Major metros across the country are experiencing difficult advertising conditions this year. We certainly are no exception."

Times Co. spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the job reductions would be achieved through a combination of layoffs and buyouts, but she said no details were available.

In Boston, the downsizing program will most likely begin in October, Gilman said. The stated goals represent the biggest job-reduction plan since 2001, when 193 Boston Globe employees accepted buyout offers from the company.

''We are going to do our darndest to avoid doing anything that will impact the quality and integrity of our journalism," Gilman said. ''We are the largest news gathering operation in New England by far and will continue to be even after the reduction."

The cuts will affect both members of the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents newsroom employees, and management, Gilman said. Unions that represent production workers will not be affected, he said.

The Times's New England Media Group consists of the Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and Boston.com.

Gilman said some reductions are expected at the Worcester paper but said it had not been determined whether the newsroom would be affected.

US newspapers have been taking a beating on the price of newsprint, which has been rising 10 to 15 percent a year with another price increase due to take effect Oct. 1, said industry analyst John Morton, president of Morton Research Inc., of Silver Spring, Md.

''That, combined with advertising revenue not keeping pace with inflation, puts a profit squeeze on companies, and one of the ways you can alleviate that is laying off people," he said.

The Times revealed its plan after the stock market closed. Times stock rose 21 cents to $32.13. The company's stock has declined from a high of more than $50 a share in 2002.

The company also said yesterday third-quarter earnings would likely be 11 cents to 14 cents per share compared to 33 cents last year.

Analysts had estimated the company's earnings would be 26 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial.

The company said earnings fell short of estimates in part because of higher-than-expected costs related to the staff reductions in May, which included buyouts. The company said it does not know how much the latest round of cuts will cost.

Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com.