St. Joseph Media, publisher of major consumer magazines such as Toronto Life, Fashion, WeddingBells and Canadian Family, told employees this morning that their pay will be cut by 5% from April to October and that work weeks for the months of July and August will be reduced to four days. "For somebody earning $40,000 a year, after deductions, their take home pay will go down about $26 a week," said St. Joseph Media president Doug Knight.

Knight says the cuts are necessary because the "meltdown of advertising revenues continues unabated." Canadian magazine ad revenues for the first quarter of 2009 are likely down by more than 20%, he added. "We're matching costs to revenues as best as we can," Knight said. "At the end of the day it's about protecting jobs."

Asked whether the reduction in labour hours will diminish the quality of magazines produced, Knight noted that St. Joseph traditionally offers workers summer hours, where they may leave at 1 p.m. on Friday but are expected to work an extra half hour from Monday to Thursday.

"From a production point of view, [the summer] is a time when we have the most flexibility," Knight added. "But yes, people will have to plan their work and make sure everything gets done in that period of time."