Gannett confirms one week furlough for employees in first quarter including at Tennessean

The largest newspaper company in the nation confirmed what I reported earlier from www.gannettblog.blogspot.com that employees would be forced off the job for one week during the next three months without pay.

You've got to give Gannett some credit for this action, which it says is in lieu of layoffs. Of all the newspaper companies, Gannett was the last to lay off people. Yet, staffing levels at most Gannett newspapers were lowest for most of the industry.

Still, to offset the severity of the furloughs on households, Gannett will allow employees to spread out the five days. That is good and humane. I hope the company can avoid further layoffs. The furlough is much preferable to losing one's job.

The bad thing, however, is that workers on the job will be forced to take on even more work when their colleagues are off. There is just so much a person can do before he or she breaks. And readers rightly lose more respect for the product.