Heads of New Publishing Groups at Random House Will Handle Layoffs Themselves

There will be no layoffs enacted at Random House today. According to Random House spokeswoman Carol Schneider, but the individual publishers at the top of the newly realligned groups will soon size up all the people now under their jurisdiction and "may have to make some difficult choices."

"If the layoffs are nececessary, those decisions are going to be made as objectively as possible and as quickly as possible, but I would venture to guess not in the next week or so," Ms. Schneider said. "This is a big reorganization."

Ms. Schneider, who is ordinarily the publicity director for Random House's flagship division rather than the whole house, said she is handling all press calls on today's news, while corporate spokesman Stuart Applebaum, who might normally be expected to be the point person on it, is excising himself because the dissolution of the Bantam Dell division involves the departure of his brother and longtime colleague Irwyn.