Vox Media — the owner of New York magazine, as well as sites like The Verge, Eater, SB Nation, and Recode — plans to furlough 100 staffers this week in response to the coronavirus, according to a report.
The furloughs will be for up to three months, according to CNBC. Three-month pay cuts for top executives at Vox are also under discussion, according to the report.
Up to now, Vox was alone among the big digital publishers to not cut salaries or furlough employees, but CEO Jim Bankoff had warned staffers last week that “our business will continue to be deeply affected this quarter, next quarter and likely for the remainder of 2020.” At that time, he said “we need to plan with extra caution.”
SB Nation, which covers sports, and Eater, which covers dining and restaurants, have been particularly hard hit as sports leagues suspended their seasons and many restaurants shut down.
The cuts would have to be negotiated with the Writers Guild of America East, which represents about 350 editorial staffers at the Vox-owned properties, and the News Guild of New York. The latter had unionized editorial employees at New York Media before its acquisition last year, but had yet to hammer out a contract with the company.
Representatives for the unions and the company did not immediately respond to Post inquiries.
Vice Media, BuzzFeed, Group Nine and G/O Media all had announced major cuts in response to the evaporation of advertising revenue in response to COVID-19.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau reported earlier this month that advertising on digital sites had dropped 33 percent initially as a result of the coronavirus-related pullback. Most advertisers hit pause, but a minority of brands have reacted to the pandemic with new ads that have begun showing up on broadcast, cable and digital outlets and social media recently.