Yesterday, Fortune chief Andy Serwer sent staffers a memo asking for senior level mastheaders to consider voluntary buyouts. Up to 15 people could be eliminated, and the staff has until May 27 to decide whether they want to take the deal. [WWD] Granted, there's an overall shift going on in parent Time Warner – cut jobs – so the search for buyout takers make sense.

In various recent cost saving measures, Time Warner has shuttered film studios Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures, slashing 70 jobs there, after cutting 450 New Line jobs as it folds the brand into Warner Bros. Jeff Bewkes is also splitting from its cable division. And the company's HBO unit is even hiking prices on iTunes downloads to pad the coffers with a few extra pennies.

But the cuts at Fortune are particularly surprising.

Not because anyone expected print division Time Inc. to be saved from budget cuts, but because Serwer has been responsible for a number of recent high-profile and expensive hires, from the the Wall Street Journal’s James Bandler and Liz Spiers, to creating the position of exec editor to bring CNNMoney.com's Craig Matters on board.

The balance sheet began tipping the other way for a while. Press releases announcing new hires seemed to arrive in our inbox weekly. It gave us hope that Time Inc. was actually beefing up its staff, not planning to tear it down.