The Atlantic is laying off nearly 20% of its staff as the novel coronavirus continues to affect media companies.
The news came in the form of an internal memo from The Atlantic’s chairman David Bradley, according to Axios. The Atlantic is just the latest in a growing list of media companies that have been forced to issue various cuts and furloughs as the business suffers.
“This morning, we are informing 68 of our colleagues that we will not have a place for them on The Atlantic’s new course,” Bradley wrote. “The contraction affects mainly our events, sales, and editorial staffs.”
The Atlantic is laying off about 20% of its staff — 68 people across divisions — per a memo from David Bradley, after collapse of events business. pic.twitter.com/XCJKLeXYTy
— Ben Smith (@benyt) May 21, 2020
The company will also be forced to “sacrifice” in terms of “pay cuts for executives and a general pay-freeze for the rest through the remainder of the year,” Bradley’s internal memo read. The Atlantic has seen its events business suffer greatly amid the virus, Axios reported.
Fortune, Billboard, Vox Media, Buzzfeed and Maven Media are just some of the many other companies that have been affected by the virus to the point of issuing layoffs and furloughs, Axios reported. Despite The Atlantic’s expansion over the past few years, it too has been resorted to similar measures. (RELATED: ‘Fat Drunk And Stupid’: Billboard Employee Publishes Scathing Announcement After Entire IT Staff Gets Laid Off)
“Here, and at the close, I want to tell our departing colleagues how deeply sorry I am,” Bradley continued. “If we saw any prospect that your jobs would return in a reset Atlantic, we would have found another way forward.”