57 are out in LAT newsroom, but ...

According to editor Jim O'Shea in a memo to the staff today "some highly talented people are leaving the staff and I hate to see them go. No one enjoys going through something like this, least of all me. This is a time of wrenching change at our paper ..."

In the same memo: "In the editorial department, 57 members of the staff will be leaving the paper ... We will replace a significant number of people, though, to offset the decline."

Those who left under their own volition might look at the severance package as a gift. It is not.

It is money earned over the years for contributing to the greatness of the Los Angeles Times. For those who were pushed out — or whose jobs were eliminated: it's a shame no effort was made to keep those hard-working and talented employees.

At the end of the day, the LAT severance package falls far short of how loyal employees should be treated. Indeed, it remains to be seen if the new replacements will be hired because they are highly talented or just another poorly disguised corporate move to pay lower salaries.

Wrenching time of change indeed. For the 57.