The switch to Washington Post’s new Dulles print centre is underway, with staff being given notice of the move and 118 being told they are being laid off.

A legal notice under the country’s WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) legislation on October 7 lists the number of people in each role who will lose their jobs when the old 46,000m2 facility closes at the end of the year. Four unions are named in the notice.

About half of the staff at the Springfield facility are expected to transition to the Dulles plant. Built in 1980, Springfield houses three double-width Mitsubishi web offset presses (pictured top and below). Installation of a new all-colour press based on 28 Goss Urbanite units and three folders is currently underway at a leased 5,600m2 building near Dulles airport, also in Virginia (see latest report).

Earlier this year, Washington Post chief officer of print operations Gregg Fernandes said print continued to be an important medium to readers: “It is a valuable, profitable way we offer our critical journalism to customers and a key market differentiator,” he said.

“We will be producing the same uncompromising, high-quality product with a more efficient and sustainable approach.”

Washington Post has also been operating a print services business based on two Konica Minolta digital presses – one a KM-1e sheetfed inkjet, and the other a C6100 toner press with built-in folding, collating and hole-punching capabilities, and an in-line booklet maker.

The company’s website says the WP Print Solutions operation produces “many of the publications in the DC metro area” including catalogues, magazines, brochures and flyers, and teaming digital and offset production.