People magazine is working to reclaim its youth, says an insider with direct ties to the magazine. Not only is Larry Hackett's rag moving up the book's closing time – pulling it back 12 hours, so it will now close Tuesday evening, not Wednesday morning – but they've enlisted the help of a crop of veterans to shake things up. Because change always comes from industry stalwarts.

The shift was announced during a Friday staff meeting, and includes the import of helping hands Jane Nicholls, editor of Australia's Who tabloid (also a Time Inc. title), as well as People en Español chief Peter Castro, who spent 18 years at People proper; Star veteran and short-lived VH1 staffer David Caplan, who joined People in September, is also involved in the revamp. (It's unclear whether Nichols and Castro are just lending their services temporarily, or plan to stay on permanently. We're guessing the former.)

Not that all the changes to make the magazine "look younger" are sitting well with staffers: Longtime reporter Ashley Williams is said to have decamped for ESPN The Magazine, while, according to our source, "a lot of the younger people [on staff] are over it."

People is looking to its down under cousin for its latest addition: former WHO editor Jane Nicholls, who joins Larry Hackett's harem as editor-at-large in … January. His full note to the staff after the jump — and is it just us, or did he leave out the part about Nicholls working for FPC, which publishes competitor Conde Nast's brands abroad?

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