WaPo reportedly expecting to layoff ‘dozens’ of employees

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Washington Post employees are bracing for a round of layoffs that are expected to impact “dozens” in the coming week, according to Oliver Darcy.

The independent journalist revealed the surprising news in his newsletter on Sunday, adding that the newspaper’s “business division” will be the focus of the layoffs. Darcy noted that these cuts come amid a voluntary exodus of talent from the outlet, commenting that WaPo “has been in poor financial shape in recent years, a fact that management has not hidden from employees.” He also alleged that the pain was made worse after billionaire owner Jeff Bezos put the kibosh on an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential race. This move reportedly resulted in “more than 250,000 readers canceling their subscriptions.”

Big names like managing editor Matea Gold, Charles Lane, Michael Scherer, Ashley Parker, Amanda Katz and Tyler Pager have already jumped ship, and reporter Josh Dawsey will be pursuing a job at the Wall Street Journal.

In June 2024, WaPo CEO Will Lewis discussed the outlet’s financial woes following the shocking resignation of Sally Buzbee.

“We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore,” Lewis admitted. “So I’ve had to take decisive, urgent action to set us on a different path, sourcing talent that I have worked with that are the best of the best.”

Staffers balked at Lewis’s revelation that he would be tapping into external talent in an attempt to appeal to different audiences, thus growing their base of readership.

“Don’t we need our brilliant social journalists and service journalists as embedded in our core product to make sure that people are actually reading the thing that’s out at the center of the mission of the Washington Post?” Lewis was asked.

“You haven’t done it. I’ve listened to the platitudes. Honestly, it’s just not happening,” he responded bluntly.

“So we’re just going to give up on-” the staffer continued.

“No, I want you to be inspired,” Lewis interrupted. “It’s the most important thing: untapped audiences. If what I cause to happen is you all get it, great, but the game is up. I’m setting up a structure where I’m not going to be guessing.”