As it seeks to get its budget out of an operating deficit, NPR has revealed plans to offer contract buyouts to 10% of its 840 employees.
Any full or part-time employee who has been with NPR for three years continuously and accepts the buyout will receive two days pay per month of service up to a maximum of 300 days. NPR budget is set to run with a 3% operating loss in 2014 with hopes to be profitable again in 2015.
NPR Board Vice Chairman Paul G. Haaga Jr. will become Acting President/CEO on September 30 when Gary Knell steps down. Haaga will take a $1 annual salary.
The staff has always seemed somewhat bloated and redundant – even beyond what the unions would demand. Still, NPR will probably lose muscle and keep fat.
All this to pay for that fancy new building. And the golden parachutes each time a CEO gets thrown under the bus.
And stations keep complaining about NPR charges them to carry programs but nobody has come up with any alternative to Morning Edition and All Things Considered.