A leading job portal, whose shareholders include media companies Tribune and Gannett Co Inc as well as software major Microsoft, has logged out more than 300 employees from its payrolls, a report has said.
The Chicago-based website CareerBuilder.Com's Chief Marketing Officer Richard Castellini told Chicago Tribune daily that the job cuts took place on Friday last weeks, most of which were in the company's small business segment.
However, the retrenchments are spread across its various units and geographies, the official added.
The lay-offs are estimated to be about 15 per cent of the portal's total headcount of more than 2,000.
Terming the job cuts "a difficult decision for everyone involved", Castellini said that these were necessary to ensure that the company remains healthy next year and beyond.
"When we forecast our business for 2009, the growth rates we had anticipated weren't going to be in line with where we were currently seeing the business," he was quoted as saying.
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NYSE-listed Media major Gannett Co, which publishes 85 dailies, including USA Today and about 900 non-daily publications, has a controlling 50.8 per cent stake in CareerBuilder, while Tribune Co holds a 30.8 per cent equity.
Earlier this week, Gannett said it expects its revenue to decline by eight per cent this year and was planning for more job cuts in the new year. The company is said to have cut hundreds of jobs at its daily newspapers last week.
Gannett and Tribune had equal stakes in the company until September when Tribune sold part of its holding to Gannett for $135 million. Earlier this month, Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its debt.
The remaining shares in the company are held by McClatchy Co and Microsoft Corp.