Time Inc. is laying off an estimated 110 people across numerous areas of the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the WSJ reports that Time Inc. is in the midst of major corporate reorganization and a retooling of its sales and marketing staff with a focus on specific advertising categories. The new priority is an attempt to sell additional advertising and services to marketers throughout Time Inc.’s numerous titles.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we have been realigning our organizational structure to better leverage our content creation, sales and marketing and brand development operations,” Time Inc., which is led by CEO Joe Ripp (pictured), said in a statement to WSJ. “Our primary objective has been to better position ourselves to operate with greater agility and optimize the growth areas of our operation. As a result, there will be some job eliminations.”
Time Inc. employs 7,200 people, according to a statement provided by the WSJ, so the upcoming layoffs represent 1.5 percent of the total workforce.
It was reported earlier this week that People and Entertainment Weekly president Rich Battista is expected to take on a larger role at the company, adding management of other magazines to his responsibilities. In January, he was put in charge of all of the company’s video operations as well as the Sports Illustrated Group.
Battista, who joined the company last year, oversaw the launch of the video and social media-focused website Instant and announced the upcoming launch of a People/EW over-the-top streaming network.
Time Inc. did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.