• by November 20, 2002

Over 250 jobs and possibly as many as 500 may be at stake as a new facility begins operation in Wilmington, Del. in January. So far, at least 15 people have been let go at Golf Digest Cos., one of seven magazine companies owned by Newhouse and his brother Donald through their parent company, Advance Publications Inc. The head-rolling was contained in a "warn letter" that the company was required to file with the Department of Labor in Connecticut. Other cuts are expected at Parade, the big money-making Sunday magazine inserted into newspapers; at Fairchild, publisher of W, Details and Jane; and at Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Most of the cutbacks are related to the company's pending move to the new shared services facility in Wilmington, Del. For the first time, back-office personnel in areas such as accounting, benefits, human resources and information technology for all the corporation's magazine divisions will be combined under one roof. The cutbacks are expected to reach into the hundreds by early next year. Wilmington officials have said that there will 250 jobs created at the site there when the facility is fully operational early next year. The project is going to start staffing up in January, said a company spokeswoman. Presumably, that means that there are a lot more cutbacks to come from sites in the New York City area as the move date approaches.