New York Media has laid off 16 full-time staff members, which is roughly 5 percent of all employees in a restructuring. An additional 16 freelance or part-time employees will also be laid off
In a statement, the company said that the move was part of a necessary “restructuring,” and would take directly impact audience development/circulation, copy, fact, production, and video.
“In some cases, the changes we are making reflect a need for new focus as we build out our digital subscription business; in others, they reflect an overdue integration of print and digital staffs,” New York Media said in its statement.
“In no case are they a judgment on the quality of the work produced by our colleagues who are leaving, and we thank them sincerely for their contributions here,” the company added. “The restructuring reflects tough decisions made by our CEO and management team over the past several months, in order to focus our efforts where we see the most opportunity for future growth.”
The news was first revealed to employees in a memo from CEO Pam Wasserstein, which reiterated many of the themes shared in the company’s statement.
In January, longtime New York Magazine editor-in-chief Adam Moss stepped down. Moss, who built the company from a single print publication into specialized verticals that include Vulture, The Cut, Grub Street, and Intelligencer, was replaced by David Haskell, an editor at New York Magazine since 2007.
The company was also criticized after Erik Abriss, a freelancer for Vulture publicly wished for the death of the Covington Catholic high school students and their families. The company repeatedly declined to comment at the time whether they would continue to publish his work on the site.