Huckleberries Online

Century Publishing Cuts 50 Workers

Posted by DFO

Feb. 6, 2009 8:46 a.m. • 19 comments

Item: Century Publishing trims staff by 50/Brian Walker, CDA Press

More Info: Century has about 25 employees left. It employed 155 in the 1990s, but equipment upgrades and technologies later reduced that number slightly. At its peak in sales in the middle of 2007, the company employed 135. But it was restructured twice in 2008, which reduced the staff each time.

Question: Have you or anyone close to you lost a job since the economy tanked last fall?

19 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

tarynahecker on February 06 at 8:55 a.m.
Yes and yes.
DFO on February 06 at 9:00 a.m.
Taryn; how’s the new photo studio in downtown Spirit Lake going?
bondgirl on February 06 at 9:04 a.m.
I lost my job back in Sept and have not found another one yet! It is really hard out there!
MR on February 06 at 9:22 a.m.
My husband worked at Century for over 20 years, and was laid off on Monday with 50 of his fellow employees, many of whom had worked there just as long. So my answer is Yes- I know 50 people who were laid off this week alone. And at least 50 more since last summer.
Lynne on February 06 at 9:24 a.m.
I’m “keeping an eye out” for jobs for four people now.
I just got one a job with a property management company yesterday. She’s tickled pink and it made me feel good that I could help.
jazzyvandal on February 06 at 9:27 a.m.
Yeah, I’m still unemployed.It is tough out there.
moscow_minidoka on February 06 at 9:34 a.m.
One of my good friends was laid off by the Seattle Times in November, and is still unemployed.
JeanieSpokane on February 06 at 9:36 a.m.
My firm has had two major downsizes in the last two years. We have re-organized, squeezed down from three floors to two, did away with some perks, increased our deductible and co-pay on our insurance (but we do have insurance). It’s been tight and everyone is nervous all the time.
tarynahecker on February 06 at 9:48 a.m.
I’m up and running. I’m taking portaits of poodles this weekend, a pregnant friend and her family the next week and I’ve got a few more sessions booked through the end of the month, along with some wedding fun in the summer months. I feel fortunate that I had some severance and retirement money to tide me over in the interim, because I know others who lost their jobs and didn’t get anything on their way out the door.
Escapee on February 06 at 1:56 p.m.
I worked at Century Publishing for a short while in the mid-1980s, back in the layout dept. where the “Homeseekers’ Gazette” was printed, and all I can say is, “what a sweatshop that place was.” Cut, cut, cut…Paste, paste, paste…lay off, lay off, lay off. Yep, they laid me off. Probably just as well. I felt like I gave them 110% effort, but I’ve never been a quality high-production person for any length of time, and I don’t know why. I do know that after my initial 2-week evaluation, I was told I wasn’t “measuring up”, so I tried harder after that, and they decided to lay me off anyway.

I worked for a while at MOR Manufacturing, which is right next to Century Publishing…and I felt the same way about the MOR job, too. I must have A.D.D. or something. I’ve never been cut out for a high-production environment. I must be defective.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.