The Washington Post is looking to cut 240 jobs in the face of declining subscriptions and advertising revenue. It intends to implement these job cuts this week by offering voluntary buyouts to its employees.
According to media reports, Patty Stonesifer, the interim CEO of The Washington Post, has already communicated this plan to the company’s 2,600 employees via an official e-mail. The newsroom employs 1,000 people, and this year’s losses are expected to be around $100 million.
The organisation, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has felt the need to take a close look at its costs and expenses because the situation now necessitates a focus on areas of growth. Bezos purchased the newspaper for $250 million a decade ago and has always maintained that he wanted the newspaper to be profitable.
Subscriptions have been declining for quite some time. Three years ago, there were approximately three million subscribers; today, there are approximately 2.5 million. Digital advertising is also declining. That is precisely why the publication was forced to make this job-cutting decision.
It is worth noting that Fred Ryan, the former chief executive and publisher of the newspaper, resigned in June 2023. The publication had done extremely well during his decade-long tenure, with the newsroom expanding and subscriptions skyrocketing. Many senior and junior employees, however, have left the organisation in the last two years.
