• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, April 25, 2016

The newspaper industry isn’t out of the woods yet. The New York Times Co. is preparing to cut several hundred jobs in the second half of the year, according to the New York Post, which first reported the news, citing people privy to the publisher’s negotiations with unions.

The same sources say the layoffs would most likely take place between August and November – after this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and before the U.S. elections on November 8.

NYTCO management is talking to union leaders about reduced severance packages with an eye to containing costs, but it’s unclear whether or how much progress has been made. In past negotiations, NYTCO has used some high-profile bluffing in union talks — including threatening to closeThe Boston Globe when it was under the company’s ownership — but the unions have proved staunch opponents.

The newspaper publisher is also said to be considering downsizing or closing its Paris office, possibly moving many positions to London to take advantage of more flexible British labor laws.

Closing the Paris office would be a final act of consolidation for the NYT’s overseas operations. Back in 2013, the NYTCO rebranded the 126-year-old International Herald Tribune as the International New York Times, in a move intended to raise awareness of its connection to the U.S. flagship and boost readership.

NYTCO took full control of IHT after buying out its co-owner, The Washington Post, in 2003, and subsequently phased out most of the IHT’s independent editorial operations.

Last week, NYTCO announced that it was investing $50 million in a new overseas news initiative, which will bring The New York Time content to new markets with local editions in major languages.