Hearst Magazines, a major media company that publishes brands like “Cosmopolitan,” “Esquire,” “Country Living,” and “Good Housekeeping,” announced last week that it is cutting roughly 200 employees just before Christmas.
The Writers Guild of America East, which represents thousands of media workers, told W42ST that 197 employees will be cut by Hearst Magazines, including 67 members of the Hearst Union. The Writers Guild of America East also confirmed that most of the employees affected by the layoffs are based out of the Hearst Tower in Manhattan.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hearst Magazine President Debi Chirichella announced the mass layoffs in a memo to staff members last week, saying, “After a thorough review of our business, we’ve decided to reallocate resources to better support our goals and continue our focus on digital innovation while strengthening our best in class print products. We will scale back in areas that do not support our core strategy and will eliminate certain positions as we reimagine our team structures to drive long-term growth.”
READ MORE: CNN cutting hundreds of jobs after 2024 election: Report
While Chirichella did not reveal which positions would be cut or how many employees would be impacted by the mass layoffs in last week’s memo, the Hearst Magazine president indicated that the job eliminations will help the company in the “long term.” Chirichella added that the company will concentrate on areas that have the “highest impact and drive growth” and that the company will continue its production of “the highest-quality storytelling, advertising solutions, and digital experiences.”
Following Hearst Magazines’ mass layoff announcement, Writers Guild of America East Executive Director Sam Wheeler released a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, criticizing the layoffs as “needless, irresponsible, and cruel.”
“Today, the consistently anti-union Hearst Magazines became the latest media company to enact needless, irresponsible and cruel layoffs of editorial employees,” Wheeler said. “Readers go to Hearst because of the talent and craft of its editorial employees. These workers make Hearst what it is.”
Wheeler warned that until Hearst Magazines and other companies in the media industry realize that employees are “the most valuable part” of the companies, media companies will “continue their race to the bottom with no one to blame but themselves.”
