Monday marks the beginning of 80 reporter layoffs at the San Francisco Chronicle. There will be 300 editorial positions remaining by the end of summer.

It seems like the last stand of the 300, and we know how that battle ended.

Over at the San Jose Mercury, management have told the newsrooms to expect unspecified numbers of job cuts that could come at unspecified times(!)

The Merc's usual plan is to tell staff to stay home, if they get a call, they are out of a job and can schedule a time, on a Saturday, to clear out their desks. At least the SF Chron management does it face to face.

I recently ran into Matt Marshall from VentureBeat, he is looking to hire but he wants someone that can grind out the stories... I don't blame him, journalist blogging is hard work. When you are at the large newspapers, you don't have to grind that much, which puts you at a disadvantage in the jobs market...$100K plus benefits for 5 stories a week...?! The economics of this business, right now, can't support that, even though those five stories are top notch.