Vice Media will cut salaries for top staff and halt retirement benefit-matching following the economic downturn spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.
In an all hands-meeting with staff on Monday afternoon, the company announced that it will no longer match staff 401k contributions, and will freeze all promotions through July. Additionally, the company announced that anyone making more than $100,000 per year would receive a pay cut, and that some top executives would take a furlough and a 20-to-25 percent pay decrease while the company weathers the storm. Vice also announced that CEO Nancy Dubuc would take a 50 percent pay reduction, and that Vice was “working with the [editorial] union” to figure out how the cuts would impact union staff.
The move came amid media industry contractions as a direct result of the coronavirus outbreak. BuzzFeed and media giant Gannett, which oversees USA Today and is the largest newspaper publisher in the country, both announced steep pay cuts for staff, citing sharp advertising revenue declines.
