Condé Nast will pink-slip about 100 employees in the U.S. and is putting another 100 on unpaid leave for several months as the COVID-19 crisis cuts into the media company’s business.
The New York-based company, whose titles include the New Yorker, Wired, Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, had about 6,000 employees worldwide at the start of 2020.
CEO Roger Lynch announced the cutbacks in a memo to staff Wednesday. One month ago, he told employees that layoffs were in the offing, along with other cost-cutting measures. An insider said the layoffs span all areas of the company and aren’t targeted at individual brands or groups.
“Through this crisis we’ve all gone through many states of emotion, personally and professionally, and I’m deeply saddened to have to write this note with the news that we’ll be saying goodbye to some of our U.S. colleagues,” Lynch said in the May 13 memo.
In addition to the layoffs, Lynch wrote, the company is furloughing about 100 employees who “can’t effectively work during this period,” such as those in Condé Nast’s events group. Also, a “handful” of employees will have reduced work schedules, according to Lynch, who joined the company about a year ago after serving as CEO of Pandora and Dish Network’s Sling TV.
Condé Nast’s previously enacted cost-saving measures included pay cuts of 10%-20% for those earning at least $100,000 per year and a 50% salary reduction for Lynch and outside board members. Lynch said it has limited hiring and closed hundreds of open roles across the company’s divisions.
The company also is deferring until 2021 several big strategic initiatives, including the rollout of Condé Nast’s Copilot content-management system to additional markets this year; the buildout of global internal events spaces; and a global employee intranet.