Associated Press to cut 8 per cent of staff [Video]

The Associated Press said on Monday it would lay off about 8 per cent of its workforce as it looks to modernize its operations and products.

The news publisher said affected employees will be notified over the next few weeks. It will offer a voluntary separation plan to a small number of eligible staff, based on department, role and tenure.

The Associated Press has reached a tentative agreement — subject to ratification — with the News Media Guild to extend this offer to some union staff in the U.S.

Under the agreement, a maximum of 116 people in the editorial unit and five people in the technology unit would be eligible for a voluntary buyout package, News Media Guild administrator Tony Winton said in an emailed response.

Founded in 1846 as a news cooperative, the Associated Press has journalists in nearly 100 countries and in all 50 U.S. states, according …