PopSugar Lays Off 19, Takes Bite Out of $480,000 Snack and Drink Budget

Digital media company tightens belt after admitting it spent $1,200-plus per employee last year on snacks and beverages

Pop Sugar

The media and technology company PopSugar laid off 19 employees on Tuesday, a company spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap.

“We made the hard decision today to say goodbye to 19 people, roughly 5 percent of our team,” said a spokesperson. “This was done to achieve profitability.”

And in an extra bit of cost cutting, the organization announced to remaining employees that snack and beverage offerings on site would also be sharply curtailed.

Krista Moatz, Executive Vice President of Culture and Corporate Citizenship, announced the move in a company-wide email circulated April 30, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“We will take a pause on providing snacks and most beverages in all of our offices,” wrote Moatz, who nevertheless promised that  coffee, tea and  “various forms of milk for coffee,” would continue as well as “filtered hot and cold water.”

The draconian snack food policy makes given Moatz also revealed in the email that the company spent $480,000 on snacks last year for employees — or about $1,263 per employee. Even keeping the snacking unchanged, the 19 layoffs would save the company $24,000 annually.

PopSugar was founded in 2006 by Brian and Lisa Sugar, who remain atop the company masthead.

The layoffs make PopSugar the latest media company to execute layoffs as the broader media industry faces significant headwinds. In April, Univision laid off 150 in a similar desire to trim expenses, Mic.com also slashed more than two dozen last year amid slumping traffic.

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