WHOA

Vice Media to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff: Report

Employees are expected to be notified today, with more cuts ahead in the coming weeks.

Vice Media plans to lay off 10 percent of its staff, or approximately 250 people, according to a Friday report from The Hollywood Reporter. A company spokesperson told the outlet that Vice plans to reorganize around the more profitable segments of the company, including film production, television production, and branded content. “Having finalized the 2019 budget, our focus shifts to executing our goals and hitting our marks,” CEO Nancy Dubuc wrote in a Friday staff memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We will make Vice the best manifestation of itself and cement its place long into the future.” Many of the employees who will be laid off are expected to learn their fate today, although more cuts are expected in the coming weeks. All U.S.-based employees will get 10 weeks of severance and medical benefits, and will receive any additional unused paid time off. The cuts come just a week after massive layoffs shook the industry and left many talented journalists out of work, including a round of layoffs at BuzzFeed that cut 15 percent of the organization’s workforce.

The CEO of McClatchy Company reportedly also emailed employees Friday to inform them about 10 percent of employees will be offered voluntary buyouts. “It is important to us that [employees] are empowered to make the next steps on their career path,” Craig Forman wrote, according to the Miami New Times–adding that the buyouts would be steering the company toward a “functionally based organizational structure in targeted strategic areas.”

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