During the town hall, The Washington Post’s CEO and Publisher Fred Ryan announced job cuts. Through these layoffs, a single digit percentage of workforce is expected to be eliminated.
The Washington Post layoffs have become the latest trending topic in this season of mass layoffs. Just days after CNN layoffs affected hundreds of employees, now, The Washington Post’s CEO and Publisher Fred Ryan has also announced job cuts at the media house.
As shared by Washington Post Guild and confirmed by Annie Gowen, a reporter with the publication, Ryan announced these layoffs at “WaPo’s so-called town hall.” During this, the CEO and publisher reportedly “refused to take questions about recent layoffs and the future of the company.”
Gowen writes, “NEW: @washingtonpost publisher Fred Ryan refuses to take staff questions after announcing Q1 layoffs in “Town Hall” @postguild. Just to be clear, I did not take this video. One of my colleagues did, and I grabbed it out of the Guild chat.”
According to The Guardian, as Ryan made a ‘hasty exit’ after announcing layoffs at The Washington Post, a staffer was heard saying, “This is embarrassing, this is embarrassing.” It was further reported that the town hall was initially intended to discuss future editorial plans. However, as per the report, “It descended into a tetchy confrontation between the publisher, who said he would not allow the meeting to be turned into “a grievance session for the Guild”, and staffers audibly protesting that he was disrespecting this room.”
As per latest updates, The Washington Post layoffs are expected to eliminate a single-digit workforce in 2023. While no exact numbers are available in the public domain, it is clear that layoffs have hit another media house after CNN. The Guardian’s report adds that in recent months, several top-level managers have left the company including a Managing Editor, the Chief Information Officer and Chief Communications Officer.