BuzzFeed Layoffs 12% Of Its Workforce

As media layoffs increase under the difficult global economic climate, online news platform BuzzFeed, which also owns the Huffington Post and Complex Networks, has let go of at least 180 employees, i.e., 12 per cent of its workforce.

"I want all of you, but especially those that are receiving difficult news today, to know that these changes do not reflect on the good work that these employees have done over the years to build our company and our brands," says, Jonah Peretti, CEO, BuzzFeed.

In an internal memo to those affected, Peretti has said that we are letting many talented colleagues go and cutting our workforce by about 12 per cent. According to him, BuzzFeed needs to adapt, make investments in its strategy to better serve its audience, and revaluate its cost structure in order to survive an economic slump that "I predict will last far beyond 2023." 

In response to a number of issues, including difficult macroeconomic conditions, completing the integration of Complex Media, and removing redundancies where they exist in both functions and teams, the company claims that the reduction in personnel plan is designed to lower the company's costs.

The CEO has claimed that a combination of deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and the continuous audience shift to vertical video—which is still evolving from a monetization perspective—is having an impact on revenues.

"That requires us to lower our costs. Unfortunately, reducing our workforce is an essential part of cost cutting. Staff salaries are the single largest cost at the company," he adds.

CNN, a major media outlet, alerted staff members of layoffs earlier this month. According to the company's internal message, the decision would have a significant negative impact on hundreds of employees at the global news network and would represent the organization's largest cuts in years.

In a statement to the whole employees, CNN CEO Chris Licht called the layoffs a "gut punch" to the company. Everyone will experience difficulty during this time, Licht noted in his memo.

As marketers cut back on their expenditure in light of the global economic slowdown, the media and entertainment sector has been impacted with job losses globally.

Up until October of this year, the media industry has seen more than 3,000 positions lost, and more are expected.