Photo by Dan Macy

Photo by Dan Macy

One year into the Jeff Bezos era, things are looking up at the Washington Post. At least, until today.

The good news: Since January 1, more than 100 people have hired, the New York Times reports, bringing the newsroom employee total to 650 people. The bad news: Employees, possibly even ones who are members of the union, will see their retirement benefits slashed.

As the Post reported:

The changes will hit hardest at employees hired before 2009 who could plan on receiving pension payments based on their income and years of service. Each of those employees could see scores — or hundreds — of thousands of dollars less over the course of a retirement. More recent hires do not have traditional pension plans.

The Post will create a new cash balance plan to replace the pensions for nonunion employees and a separate but similar plan for those covered by the union. Those plans provide employees with a lump sum or annuity when they retire. But they do not guarantee a particular level of retirement payments, thus reducing the risk that Bezos would have to add money to the pension if financial markets plunged.

Employees reacted thusly.

Bezos’s new publisher, former Politico president Frederick J. Ryan Jr., will start on October 1. From the New York Times:

Splendid neckties, Georgetown cocktail parties and seats on the boards of the city’s cultural institutions are essential elements in the professional life of Mr. Ryan, an affable former television executive better known for promoting Politico’s brand than for any expertise in print or online journalism.

But whatever the selection of Mr. Ryan may say about Mr. Bezos’ plans for digital innovation at The Post, it speaks volumes about perceptions of the clubby culture of Washington, where even an outsider as powerful as Mr. Bezos apparently sees the need for an insider.

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