BuzzFeed is axing 12% of its workforce, or around 180 staffers, in a bid to cut costs as the digital media company faces headwinds including an ad-spending pullback and the completion of its integration of Complex Media.
The company informed affected employees via email Tuesday that they were being terminated. “In order for BuzzFeed to weather an economic downturn that I believe will extend well into 2023, we must adapt, invest in our strategy to serve our audience best, and readjust our cost structure,” CEO Jonah Peretti wrote in a memo to employees about the job cuts.
BuzzFeed disclosed the layoffs in an SEC filing Tuesday. The company said the layoffs are “intended to reduce the company’s costs” in response to factors including “challenging macroeconomic conditions,” completing the integration of Complex Media and “eliminating redundancies where they exist” and the ongoing audience shift to short-form, vertical video, which BuzzFeed is “still developing from a monetization standpoint.”
