New York magazine announced today it is laying off 32 staffers in a broad “restructuring” CEO Pam Wasserstein said had been in the works for months. Among those affected were 16 full-time staff members, or 5 percent of New York’s full-time staff, as well as 16 part-time workers, per Wasserstein’s memo about the layoffs.
The cuts reportedly most affect the video, audience development, and copy editing teams, including fact checkers, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported. Wasserstein said in the memo she “believes this restructuring is necessary to put us on the firmest possible footing as an independent company.”
New York’s employees announced they were organizing with the News Guild back in December. By late January, management had recognized the union, but they have not yet negotiated a contract with the bargaining unit.
According to the union, 16 of the layoffs are part-time workers and eight are full time staff. The union said it helped organize for severance and benefits for affected employees.
Here’s the union’s full statement:
Update 6:00 p.m. ET: Although the layoffs were announced today and, per Wasserstein’s memo, all affected staffers have been notified, a source with knowledge of the arrangement told Splinter that laid-off employees will be working through the end of the month and potentially longer before leaving the company.
This story is developing and will be updated.
If you were laid off at New York today and have information to share, you can reach me at [email protected].