Digital Media Bloodbath Continues: New Vice CEO Cuts 10% Of Staff, Shifts Focus To Film, TV
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Fri, 02/01/2019
The digital publishing industry, which expanded rapidly during the online video boom but has since been struggling to deliver on the lofty promises sold to its VC and corporate backers, just can’t catch a break.
Following mass layoffs at Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post, Gannett and Verizon Media Group last week, Vice Media has become the latest trendy new media darling to announce deep cuts to staffing levels.
The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday morning that the cuts will impact around 250 people, and are part of new CEO Nancy Dubuc’s “strategic plan” to cut back on spending and “achieve profitability.” The cuts, which will be distributed across “all departments at every level”, will total roughly 10% of the company’s workforce.
Around 250 jobs are expected to be cut, a company spokeswoman tells The Hollywood Reporter, as the 2,500-person Vice reduces redundancies internationally and reorients to focus on growth areas like film and television production and branded content. All departments at every level are expected to have layoffs, from IT to finance to television.
As part of the “strategic restructuring”, the company is pivoting away from online publishing and focusing more on television, film 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 memo sent to staff on Friday morning that was shared with THR. “We will make Vice the best manifestation of itself and cement its place long into the future.”
The Rest…HERE
