Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Broadcasting cable TV division is planning to offer voluntary buyouts to between 500 and 600 employees this week, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is part of a restructuring plan the company is pursuing to cut costs and free up money to invest in programming and technology. The targeted round of buyouts would affect about 4% of Turner's workforce of approximately 13,500 employees, although it is only available to the company's roughly 9,000 domestic employees, one of the people said. The move will not eliminate the need for a further headcount reduction at Turner as the company pushes ahead in coming months with a broad restructuring initiative dubbed "Turner 2020," the person said. Turner Broadcasting generates roughly half of Time Warner's profits and includes some of the largest general entertainment channels on television, such as TBS and TNT, as well as news channel CNN. While it has enjoyed five years of double-digit operating profit growth, it is struggling with steep ratings declines at several of its networks. Time Warner was the subject of an unsolicited takeover bid this summer by 21st Century Fox Inc. People familiar with Fox's thinking said it believed Turner was underperforming and could benefit from new management. Fox abandoned its cash-and-stock bid earlier this month, citing pressure on its stock price. (Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp and 21st Century Fox were part of the same company until last year.) In June, Turner Broadcasting CEO John Martin unveiled plans to tackle what he called "ratings headwinds" at some of Turner's largest channels, as part of the Turner 2020 restructuring. "To commit to staying on top of market, we need to prioritize programming, monetization and innovation investment while reducing spending in less-impactful areas," he wrote in a memo to staff. "This may mean staff changes. In fact, I'd be surprised if it doesn't." On a conference call with analysts to discuss its second quarter earnings earlier this month, Time Warner CFO Howard Averill warned that the Turner 2020 turnaround efforts will likely result in restructuring charges in the second half of the year. News of the buyouts was reported earlier by the Hollywood web site The Wrap. via marketwatch