• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 6, 2015

Tribune Publishing is looking to reduce its headcount, but layoffs aren’t on the table -- yet. The newspaper publisher is offering buyouts to non-union employees at all its newspapers, according to The Chicago Tribune, which reported the news earlier this week.

Under the terms of the buyout offer, employees would receive a week of pay for every year of employment up to 10 years, two weeks for the next decade, and three weeks for every year over 21 years. The offer is capped at a year’s pay. The company is giving employees until Oct. 23 to apply for a buyout.

The buyout offer comes a few weeks after Tribune revised its year-end revenue forecast downward from a range between $1.67 billion to $1.7 billion to a range between $1.645 billion to $1.675 billion. In a statement, Tribune CFO Sandra Martin noted: “Revised guidance reflects lower forecasted revenue estimates for the year, concentrated in Southern California.”

Martin added: “Expense mitigation efforts partially offset this decline, but are expected to be unfavorably impacted by the delay of implementation of these efforts, principally in Southern California.”

In September, it was reported that Tribune is looking to trim expenses by $10 million by cutting up to 80 positions from the newsroom of the Los Angeles Times, representing around 16% of the total 500 editorial staff.

This plan was apparently one of the sources of the high-profile conflict between Tribune Co.’s central management and former LAT publisher Austin Beutner, who was fired abruptly in early September. The newspaper’s new publisher, Tim Ryan, oversaw major cuts at The Baltimore Sun, his previous post.

Media watchers also speculate Beutner clashed with Tribune management over his push to sell the LAT to local owners.