People access the central office of The Washington Post. The publication is downsizing approximately 10% of its workforce through the implementation of voluntary buyouts.
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images
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Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images
People access the central office of The Washington Post. The publication is downsizing approximately 10% of its workforce through voluntary buyouts.
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images
Washington Post On Tuesday, the organization released a statement announcing its intention to reduce its workforce by 240 employees, equivalent to around 10% of the total workforce, using voluntary buyouts.
Post In an email addressed to the staff, Interim CEO Patty Stonecipher expressed great confidence regarding the growth in readership, subscriptions, and advertisements over the past two years. Stonecipher stated, “We are actively exploring strategies to restore the health of our business in the upcoming year.”
Stonecipher specified that employees in certain positions will have the option to participate in the voluntary buyout program, without disclosing the specific roles affected.
He mentioned, “To avoid more difficult measures such as layoffs, which we are committed to preventing, we have devised this program to reduce our workforce by approximately 240 employees.”
This represents the second sizable reduction in staff for the Post this year. In January, the newspaper terminated its Sunday magazine and eliminated several positions throughout the company, which is under the ownership of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In addition, Post Swayam reported a loss of 50 jobs.
Publisher Fred Ryan departed in June after facing scrutiny over his management of the newspaper’s financial matters and conflicts with labor unions. The Post also encountered internal tensions with executive editor Sally Buzbee, who was hired by Bezos in 2021.
This has been a challenging year for the entire media industry. NPR, citing projected revenue deficits, implemented staff downsizing in the spring, affecting approximately 10% of its employees. Other prominent media organizations that announced significant layoffs include Gannett, CNN, Los Angeles Times, and Vox Media.
Stonecipher informed the staff that further details would be disclosed during a meeting on Wednesday morning.
Source: www.npr.org
