The New York Times Company's (NYT) About.com division is cutting 22 positions -- about 10% of its staff -- and is forcing pay cuts on its contributing guides.

Guides will see a 7.5% cut in page view rate, according to a supposedly official memo we've obtained. Guides' monthly guarantees will be cut to $675 from $725.

The cuts come as About.com's sales hit a wall. About Group revenues decreased 2.9% to $29.8 million in Q4 because of a crappy display ad market. In 2007, fourth quarter sales jumped 26.8% to $30.7 million.

The memos:

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM ABOUT.COM PRESIDENT AND CEO, CELLA IRVINE

About.com Guides,

As you know, About.com is an important part of an exciting, growing and
competitive industry. Among our many assets are some of the best minds in
the industry, a strong business model and expert content that helps millions
of users manage the challenges of everyday life. Despite the deteriorating
economic conditions that exist today, we remain confident about our future
and are committed to creating lasting value for our customers, Guides, team
members, and The New York Times Company and its shareholders.

In the short term however, we find ourselves in a position where we need to
realign the organization to respond to the unprecedented economic turmoil
that is affecting organizations large and small across the country and
around the world. Over the past few months, we have taken a series of
cost-cutting measures in order to better align our expenses with our
revenues.

Unfortunately, more must be done. In that regard, today we initiated a
restructuring of our organization resulting in 22 fewer positions at
About.com. As a business that celebrates and promotes the importance of
people, this was an extraordinarily difficult decision.

In addition, we will be making changes to Guide compensation that reflect
the current economic situation. Specific details relative to these changes
will be distributed in a separate communication this afternoon. We also
invite you to join us on a conference call on Monday, February 9 at 9pm ET.
The changes will be explained in further detail during the call and you will
be provided the opportunity to raise any questions or concerns you may have
at that time.

We hope we can successfully overcome these obstacles and continue to build
on our many achievements.

Sincerely,

Cella