The Detroit Free Press will shift its copy desk and page design functions to a hub in Louisville next month, according to a memo sent to the newsroom staff Friday.

Management declined to comment, but a source familiar with the changes who spoke to Crain's on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the newspaper, said a notification of the shift was sent to eight copy editors and seven designers who are covered by the newsroom labor contract.

It's not yet clear how many staffers will lose their jobs and how many could be retained. Management is not obligated to notify managers before layoffs, and it's unclear if any will be affected by the shift.

The transition is to the Louisville Design Studio, which handles copy editing and design for 23 newspapers in the Gannett Co. Inc. chain that's owned the Free Press since 2005.

The Free Press newsroom was informed of the pending change Friday in a memo:

All,

We wanted to let you know that we have notified the Guild, through John Gallagher, that we plan to move forward with the transfer of design and copy editing work to a regional design studio, as was agreed upon during contract negotiations that concluded in February 2016.

We intend to make the transition to the Louisville studio on Oct. 9.

This is a first step in the process. We need to work through details with the studio leadership and Free Press management. We anticipate that some positions will remain at the Free Press. But we won't know for certain how many positions will remain until we complete the process of determining staffing needs in Detroit and at the studio. We will let you know details as soon as possible.

We recognize the impact these changes will have on you. Please know we appreciate the work you have done and will continue to do, and we will work through this process with urgency and care – and will do our best to keep you informed.

If you have questions, please reach out at any point.

The note is from Jeff Taylor, a former Free Press senior editor who is now editor and vice president for news at the Indianapolis Star and Midwest Regional Editor of Gannett's USA Today Network for Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. Also signing it was Amalie Nash, a regional executive editor for the USA Today Network and a former Free Press assistant managing editor.

Taylor declined to comment on the copy desk/design changes.

Taylor and Nash oversaw the Free Press after Robert Huschka resigned in July and a full-time replacement was sought.

They hired Peter Bhatia, executive editor of the Gannett-owned Cincinnati Enquirer the past two years, on Aug. 31. He begins Sept. 19 and will inherit a newsroom downsized over the years and facing print and digital declines that have plagued the newspaper industry.

The newsroom union, Newspaper Guild of Detroit Local 34022, agreed to allow consolidation of the Freep's copy desk and design elsewhere under the terms of the three-year collective bargaining agreement signed in April 2016. The deal gave management the right to move those functions outside the newsroom 18 months after it was signed.

In an emailed memo to Guild members, Guild President and Free Press reporter John Gallagher and Stevie Blanchard, union administrative officer said, "The company informed the Guild of this action on Friday. The fact that the company told the people who face layoffs by email instead of in a more personal way, face-to-face or one-on-one, speaks to the coldness of the giant corporation we’re dealing with."

Those let go will get "enhanced benefits" including up to 52 weeks severance pay and health care for the severance period, the memo stated.

Outsourcing copy editing and design functions to centralized hubs has been an industry cost-cutting trend for publishers such as Gannett for sometime. Newspaper chains have been centralizing functions, including printing and human resources, for years.

It's not clear if the Free Press cuts satisfy Gannett's latest round of companywide job cuts.

Gannett said in August that it will close its Nashville design studio and move the production work of its Southeast newspapers to other hubs around the country. It's the second studio closed by the company in recent months after an Asbury Park facility was shuttered in April, the Nashville Scene reported. The move will affect 88 people.