The Washington Post plans to offer buyouts to hundreds of staffers in the coming weeks in a plan “designed to reduce our workforce” by 240 people, its interim CEO told staffers on Monday.
“We have determined that our prior projections for traffic, subscriptions, and advertising growth for the past two years—and into 2024—have been overly optimistic and we are working to find ways to return our business to a healthier place in the coming year,” CEO Patty Stonesifer wrote to staffers in an email first obtained by The New York Times.
“We have work going on across the organization to develop a strong plan for 2024—and make no mistake—we remain bullish about the future of The Washington Post.”
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The buyouts will be offered across the Post’s various departments, which encompasses about 2,500 people, though Stonesifer did not specify how it will affect its editorial, business, and technology operations. The buyouts are voluntary, she wrote, and will be capped at 240 people. More information about the buyouts will come during a Wednesday meeting, she wrote.
A Post spokesperson did not respond to a list of questions about the buyouts.
“To be clear, we designed this program to reduce our workforce by approximately 240 employees in the hopes of averting more difficult actions such as layoffs—a situation we are united in trying to avoid,” Stonesifer wrote.
In a statement, the Post’s union said it was “infuriated” by the decision and said it received no prior notice before Stonesifer’s email.
“Hard-working Post employees are going to lose their jobs because of a litany of poor business decisions at the top of our company,” the statement read. “We cannot comprehend how The Post, owned by one of the richest people in the world, has decided to foist the consequences of its incoherent business plan and irresponsibly rapid expansion onto the hardworking people who make this company run.”
The Post has faced a plethora of challenges since Executive Editor Sally Buzbee succeeded Marty Baron in 2021. A wave of talent has departed for competitors such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic; it is projected to lose about $100 million in 2023, its second year of losses, according to the Times; and its former publisher Fred Ryan developed a contentious relationship with editorial staffers, culminating in a shock announcement of layoffs late last year.
The Post ultimately laid off 20 staffers and didn’t fill 30 open positions in January, and Ryan left the paper in August. At the time of the layoffs, Buzbee promised staffers the Post was “not planning further job eliminations at this time.”
