The US Daily Los Angeles Times announced that it is sacking 20 per cent of its employee workforce in one of the largest layoffs the media company has seen.
According to the article published on January 23, 2024, reports, the move was necessary due to the enormous losses. The statement says, “The cuts were necessary because the paper could no longer lose $30 million to $40 million a year…”
In fact, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, defended the move, saying the organisation first needed to make progress towards “building a higher readership that would bring in advertising and subscriptions to sustain the organisation.”
The media company, established in 1881, is also planning to revamp its senior leadership to cut down the losses the paper has made recently.
Dr Soon-Shiong added, “Today’s decision is painful for all, but it is imperative that we act urgently and take steps to build a sustainable and thriving paper for the next generation. We are committed to doing so. “
However, the paper’s Washington unit has hit the most because of the decision, with several senior editors laid off and their video department shrugged off. According to the article, several of its in-house award-winning photographers were asked to leave the unit.
The process of laying off media houses is attributed to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For media organisations, the firing comes in the wake of the loss that advertising departments are making due to the lack of business.
Interestingly, IT giants like Google and Amazon were the first companies to announce layoffs earlier this year and have indicated that more such moves may happen as the year progresses.
Comments 1