Dodging the Pink Slip Club in the Star-Ledger Mailroom

Buyout-Depleted ‘Star-Ledger’ Reassigns Two Journos — To Mailroom 
By Joe Strupp 
Published: November 19, 2008 10:55 AM ET 

NEW YORK When a newspaper cuts its staff, those who remain in the depleted newsroom become valuable. But as The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. slowly says farewell to 151 newsroom folks who took buyouts last month, at least two longtime journalists have been reassigned to the mailroom.

Reporter Jason Jett and Assistant Deputy Photo Editor Mitchell Seidel have been filing, sorting, and delivering mail for more than a week, according to sources.

Jett and Seidel, who could not be reached for comment, apparently declined to take one of the buyouts offered this fall as part of a companywide move to cut costs.

Read more here. On the one hand, the mailroom’s a job. With benefits. On the other hand, the mailroom’s the entry point to a company, when, in days long gone, one could get a foot in the door and then move up.