BusinessWeek Prepares for Round Two of Layoffs

The other shoe is about to drop at BusinessWeek -- or Bloomberg BusinessWeek, as it's been officially known since the financial news giant bought it last October.

Shortly after taking over the 80-year-old magazine, Bloomberg pruned its staff by a reported 30%. Sharp as those cuts were, the new owners made it known that there would be another round of downsizing sometime before the magazine moved from its home in the McGraw-Hill building to its new offices in at Bloomberg headquarters in May.

According to sources, that round will commence on Thursday. One insider characterized it as a realignment intended to pave the way for a sweeping redesign of the magazine, which will debut April 23. The new look was conceived under the direction of new editor in chief Josh Tyrangiel and design consultant Arthur Hochstein, both previously of Time.

Tyrangiel has been on the job since November -- enough time to figure out which of the holdovers from the BusinessWeek staff he wants to keep around. That said, this batch of layoffs is expected to be far more modest in number than the last, which included 60 employees from the editorial side alone. As it was last time, the news is being withheld until after the magazine completes its weekly close on Wednesday.

A BusinessWeek spokesman was not immediately available for comment.