Big June, Bad July As S&S Lays Off 75

by Jim Milliot and Steven Zeitchik, PW NewsLine -- Publishers Weekly, 7/22/2003

Hillary sales topped one million copies, but one book does not a huge bounce make, not at a publisher of any size anyway. That's a truism which S&S proved today with the announcement that it would lay off 75 people worldwide, about 60 of them in the U.S. It also said it would reduce title count across the board.

In a letter to employees that emphasized planning for the long-term, company head Jack Romanos said that "even with the recent uplift caused by a number of exciting titles intake marketplace, the fact remains that our industry continues to be challenged by any number of issues, including the most prolonged period of depressed sales in memory."

He went on to say, "It is necessary to make decisions for both the short and long-term benefit of the company. These are difficult choices that affect what we publish and the overall staffing levels at Simon & Schuster." The company was tight-lipped on which divisions will be affected, and by how many titles. One source said that both the high-ranking and rank-and-file were hit as were both children's and adult. In its letter, the firm noted that besides publishing fewer titles, it will "reorganize[d] our corporate staffs" and that "every part of the company has been asked to contribute to this initiative, including sales, publishing, finance, production, customer operations, corporate staff and all divisions." S&S has about 1600 employees worldwide, which means the personnel cuts come to just under 5%.

At least a half dozen S&S editors have been let go in the last nine months, and the publisher has reduced titles by single-digit percentages. While children's sales have grown, adult sales were flat in the first quarter which ended in March. Viacom is expected to release its overall numbers later this week. Romanos has been generally guarded on prospects for this year -- in the winter he said may need to cut titles and in May said he didn't see any chance for a marked increase in adult sales any time soon.

This article originally appeared in the July 22, 2003 issue of PW NewsLine. For more information about PW NewsLine, including a sample and subscription information, click here.