THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED: Six people were laid off this week at Chatelaine, Rogers senior director brand communications Suneel Khanna confirmed. “These decisions were extremely difficult to make and are absolutely no reflection on the commitment and contribution of those affected,” he said in an e-mail statement.

Most senior among those let go, according to a story in the Financial Post was deputy editor Melanie Morassutti, who is still on parental leave. Also gone are the assistant editor, a senior editor, associate editor, the photo editor and the senior designer.

Chatelaine lost ground in both paid subscriptions and single copy sales, according to the latest ABC Fas-Fax report.  They were down 7.4% in subscriptions and decreased 18.4% in single copy sales for the period ended December 31, 2009.

The magazine recently hired three in the art department, Masthead reported earlier last month. Editor Jane Francisco joined the magazine in November of last year, taking over from Maryam Sanati who had been with Chatelaine for less than two years.