Verizon Media Group Plans to Lay Off 150 Employees, Cuts Will Impact 1.4% of Work Force
Verizon Media Group is in the process of conducting mass layoffs this week, multiple people familiar with the company confirmed to TheWrap after an initial CNN report placed the number of cut jobs around 150. It marks the second time this year that Verizon Media has cut jobs.
The layoffs will hit multiple teams across its group of media brands including AOL, HuffPost, TechCrunch and Yahoo. Overall, the job cuts impact 1.4% of Verizon Media’s work force.
A Verizon representative did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. However, a company spokesperson told CNN: “Our goal is to create the best experiences for our consumers and the best platforms for our customers. Today we are investing in premium content, connections and commerce experiences that connect people to their passions and continue to align our resources to opportunities where we feel we can differentiate ourselves and scale faster.”
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One Verizon Media insider told TheWrap the situation is “so bad,” and said at least two people they worked with have already been laid off, but as of Wednesday morning, there has been no internal guidance from a CEO or otherwise. “No email. Nothing,” the person with knowledge of the situation said. Internally, there is confusion among staffers over how many colleagues have been laid off so far.
Staffers at some outlets are getting more information from the top than others. In a memo to staff reviewed by TheWrap, HuffPost editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen confirmed that “the Impact team will no longer work at HuffPost.”
“As we continue to consolidate our newsroom strategy and structure, a process we started with the reorg in 2017, we want to being everything we do into better alignment with our core coverage areas,” she said, noting the outlet was “continuing that strategy by bringing our foundations work into the enterprise team.”
She went on to say she was “incredibly proud and grateful” for the work of the Impact team and added that HuffPost will continue to produce the series “This New World” in its absence. The series’ management, she said, will move into the enterprise team.
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The layoffs come 11 months after Verizon Media cut 800 jobs, or about 7% of its staffers. At the time, Verizon Media said it was refocusing its efforts on mobile and video.
Last December, Verizon took a $4.6 billion write down on Oath, its fruitless combination of AOL and Yahoo under one roof, as its media division failed to grow digital advertising revenue. Oath was later rebranded as Verizon Media Group.
Verizon, in its Q3 earnings report last month, reported its digital group brought in $1.8 billion in revenue, a drop of about 2% from the same time the year before. The telecom giant overall made nearly $33 billion during the third quarter.
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