As consumers cut their spending because of the financial crisis, book publisher HarperCollins, a part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSA. O) has begun to lay off staff, offer buyouts, including closing a division as a cost-effective measure.

In a statement released Tuesday, Brian Murray, Chief, HarperCollins said: 'Over the last several months, the unstable economy has had a significant impact on business and consumer spending. Our industry is not immune to these market forces, and there is increasing pressure on us, along with our retail and wholesale partners, to adjust'.

According to Murray , the economic down-turn means people are spending less money on books and other optional purchases, thus presenting HarperCollins with new challenges in the short term, and that may have possible long-term effects on the book industry.

Though, the publisher of books by authors, such as, Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing, Joyce Carol Oates, Oprah Winfrey favourite David Wroblewski and Newbery prize winner Neil Gaiman, would not reveal how many employees are to be laid off, a spokeswoman confirmed it is a small percentage and declined to comment further.

News Corp. tightening its' spending and headcount across its global media empire, has also cut jobs at Fox television and The Wall Street Journal, including HarperCollins, which will restructure its General Books Group and close the Collins Division, dispersing the non-fiction division and Bowen Books, a children's imprint formed in 2007.

Steve Ross, Collins President and Publisher and Lisa Gallagher, a William Morrow Publisher will be leaving the firm. Others include Steve Ross, who had worked on President Obama's best-seller 'The Audacity of Hope' at Crown Publishing before he was hired to run Collins in 2007; and Brenda Bowen, a former Disney editor-in-chief who was given her own imprint at HarperCollins.