Business Insider is being hit with layoffs for the fourth time in four years.
On Thursday, Editor-in-Chief Jamie Heller sent a letter informing Business Insider employees that the company would be scaling back through a reduction in workforce. New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin posted the news on social media, adding that he had heard the layoffs would affect less than 5% of the newsroom.
“As part of Business Insider’s transformation, we are continuing to sharpen our coverage around the areas where we have deep relationships with our core loyal audience. Our goal is to be indispensable on the topics that matter most to them,” Heller wrote in the statement obtained by TheWrap. “At times, that requires changes to our newsroom. We have decided to scale back in a few places, including legal affairs, while we continue to invest in others, such as workplace and markets.”
The statement continued: “Today, some colleagues from our U.S. newsroom will be departing Business Insider. Those impacted will be notified by our People & Culture team within the next 15 minutes. These decisions are never easy. I am grateful to our departing colleagues for the talent, effort, and care they have brought to Business Insider.”
The Insider Union addressed the layoffs themselves and revealed the cuts affected 10 workers in the newsroom. They added that again, the company chose not to work with the Union when approaching the layoffs.
“We are devastated, for the fourth time in four years, to see Business Insider’s management push out 10 more of our talented coworkers during layoffs this morning,” the Insider Union statement read.
It added: “We expect management, who so far have failed to bring anything to the negotiating table, to do right by our valued coworkers that they are pushing out today by following our existing contract, as well as everyone left in the newsroom by bargaining in good faith over all the proposals we bring and have brought to the table. As we’ve had to say in past statements when management has opted for layoffs rather than collaboration and strategy, there is no Business Insider – or Axel Springer, for that matter – without us. Each of the four times now, we’ve faced layoffs as a union, we’ve come together and fought for voluntary buyouts and a better deal. We will continue that fight now.”
Business Insider is just the latest media company to face layoffs in 2026. Earlier in May, The Daily Wire was slammed by cuts spanning “a number of teams” and that the layoffs were largely concentrated at its Nashville headquarters. Candace Owens – who worked for the company until 2024 – hinted that at least 50% of the company’s staff was affected.
In April, Disney announced layoffs totaling 1,000 people across Marvel, its PR division and Home Entertainment. Axios and Netflix also announced layoffs in March and February.
