Four Variety staffers were laid off on Thursday as part of an ongoing belt-tightening at parent company Penske Media, TheWrap has learned.
The layoffs follow those last week at The Hollywood Reporter, which is also owned by PMC. A former THR top editor told TheWrap last week that they anticipated more rolling layoffs to occur over the coming weeks.
As TheWrap previously reported earlier this month, the layoffs were expected after Penske Media publications missed its revenue targets last quarter. PMC insiders told TheWrap that THR missed its Q1 2023 sales goal by 75%, while sister site Deadline only hit 30% of their Q4 2022 revenue goals.
A staffer at Variety previously told TheWrap the trade publication has slashed travel and freelance budgets and multiple staffers said that the PMC publications are on a hiring freeze.
Reps for PMC did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Writer KC Orcutt tweeted, “I was laid off from Variety Content Studio today. Finding your creative footing at a legacy media brand is a really special thing and I’m proud to say I did that.”
Noting the recent wave of deep cuts at media companies, she wrote, “Although the algorithm doesn’t favor me here and these tweets are far too common, I still feel it’s worth sharing.”
