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Employees at five Montana papers ordered to take unpaid furloughs

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Posted at 5:11 PM, Mar 01, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-01 20:10:09-05

BUTTE — The company that owns five major newspapers in Montana is requiring most of its employees to take unpaid furloughs.

Lee Enterprises announced in mid-February employees at all its newspapers nationwide would be required to take a total of two weeks of unpaid leave between now and the end of September. The company owns 77 daily papers in 26 states.

The furloughs will include employees at Lee papers in Butte, Billings, Hamilton, Helena, and Missoula.

Lee has struggled financially in recent years, including laying off roughly 10 percent of its staff in 2022.

When reached for comment today, Lee Enterprise's Regional Local News Director David McCumber said he could not comment on the situation.