BuzzFeed to cut 15 percent of its staff
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BuzzFeed is planning to cut 15 percent of its workforce next week as it looks to increase its sustainability, according to an internal memo sent by CEO Jonah Peretti.
The digital media company employs about 1,450 people, and the layoffs could affect about 220 workers, according to CNN. A spokesperson for BuzzFeed declined to comment on the number of affected employees.
Peretti told employees in an memo, sent late Wednesday, that after "extensive work" over the past few months, the company had developed a "good understanding" of where to consolidate its team, focus on content that’s working and achieve the right cost structure to support its model.
"We are confident the changes we are making will put us on a firm foundation and allow us to invest and grow sustainably for years to come," he wrote.
The restructuring that BuzzFeed will undertake, he added, will reduce overall costs and improve their operating model so they can avoid raising funds from outside investors.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the New York-based company has raised about $500 million and was valued close to $1.7 billion following its last funding round in 2016. Its investors include NBCUniversal, Hearst Media and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
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Across the media landscape, digital platforms have struggled to sustain growth. Many organizations, including Verizon Media Group, which includes HuffPost and Yahoo, have made job cuts recently as they look to cut costs.
"This will be a tough week for all of us and I realize it will be much worse for the people losing their jobs," Peretti wrote in the memo. "To them, I want to say thank you, I’m sorry our work together is ending this way, and I hope we get to work together again in the future."
