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In an announcement today, McGraw-Hill (MHP) said they would be cutting 611 jobs in the company, which resulted in a restructuring charge of $43.7 million. That will decrease fourth-quarter earnings by $27.3 million after taxes.

Much of the restructuring centers around employee severance costs. The cut in jobs equals three percent of McGraw-Hill's workforce.

The company, which publishes educational magazines and books, also owns Standard & Poor's credit rating agency. The agency may be a key reason behind the cuts, as demand for credit ratings worldwide drops. Rival "Moody's Corp." (MCO) yesterday announced they would be cutting 275 jobs at their company due to a decline in demand for credit ratings.

For McGraw Hill, their financial services division, which includes S&P, had 172 of the job cuts and $18.8 million of the charges.

Their educational unit acounted for $16.3 million of the charges and 304 job cuts.

The information division, which includes J.D. Power & Associates and Business Week, accounted for a $6.7 charge and 114 of the job cuts.

Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company said, "The Corporation's diverse portfolio of industry-leading products and services has positioned us well for consistent long-term growth, and these actions will strengthen our pursuit of that goal."

Over the last year the share price has dropped by almost 40 percent, while rival Moody's plunged by 51.5 percent over the same period.