News site Axios is cutting about 50 jobs in light of uncertainty in the media industry, Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei said on Tuesday.
In a memo to employees, Axios’ CEO said the company needed to make “difficult changes” to adapt to a changing environment.
“We are making difficult changes to quickly adapt to a rapidly changing media environment,” he said. “We are eliminating approximately 50 positions to stay ahead of fundamental shifts in media, technology and our readers’ needs and habits. This is a painful but necessary step to sharpen our strategic focus and shift investments to core growth areas.”
Affected employees will be notified about their severance pay, VandeHei said, adding that the majority of those being laid off will leave on Friday.
Axios employs about 500 people.
The executive, who launched Axios in 2016 with fellow former Politico reporters Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz, expressed sadness about the cuts and accepted responsibility for the turmoil, saying “the right way to address this issue is to be open and transparent.”
VandeHei, who sold Axios to Cox Enterprises in 2022 for $525 million, sought to soften the blow of the layoffs, adding:
“This is not the fault of anyone’s work, it’s the result of changes in the media industry. If you’re upset about this decision, take your frustrations out on me.”
An Axios representative declined to comment on which divisions would be cut.
The cuts come at a particularly precarious time for media companies, which are under pressure from shrinking advertising and declining web traffic due to changes in search algorithms from Facebook and Google.
Digital media companies have been hit hard by the headwinds, with Business Insider cutting 8% of its workforce in January, and news startup The Messenger permanently shut down at the end of January after less than a year in business, leaving 300 employees without jobs or severance pay.
BuzzFeed cut 16% of its workforce and sold sister brand Complex in February, while Vice Media shut down its Vice.com site and cut hundreds of other jobs.
