The Sacramento Bee has offered voluntary buyouts to less than 2 percent of its work force.

The buyouts were offered to employees Monday. Employees will have a few weeks to make a decision.

Most of the affected employees are primarily in the newspaper's support areas, including finance and human resources, said Ed Canale, the paper's vice president for business development.

In the editorial department, no reporters or editors are included in the mix, he said.

The Sacramento Bee has about 1,400 employees, he said.

The packages being offered to Bee employees include combinations of severance pay and extended company-paid health insurance.

The Bee, like many other newspapers, faces competition from the Internet and other media. The paper's advertising revenue has been hurt as a result of the local downturn in the housing market.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/03/10/daily23.html