Employees of digital media website Vice are concerned about the future of their roles and are “scrambling” to save their work. They received an anonymous tip on Wednesday that management will be shuttering the Vice.com site in the near future.
A Vice staffer told TheWrap that employees are acting as though they are about to lose their jobs, “Scrambling to save clips” from their time with the digital publication. For many of them, those articles represent years of their work.
Employees who spoke with TheWrap are also expecting they will hear about staff layoffs prior to any announcement of the site closing down, likely on Friday.
According to the New York Times, Vice Media is planning to lay off hundreds of remaining staffers over the next week. Vice has seen a steady departure of staff in the last six months between layoffs and voluntary exits since the company was acquired out of bankruptcy.
Vice did not respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
Earlier on Thursday, an employee posted to X (formerly Twitter) claiming that the digital media company has “shut off our ability to download our emails after we received an anonymous tip that they’re going to be deleting our entire website today.”
VICE has shut off our ability to download our emails after we received an anonymous tip that they’re going to be deleting our entire website today.
— janus.bsky.social (@janusrose) February 22, 2024
fun times in the media death spiral!!! will update once i know whether or not we’re all fired
The anonymous tip was received on Wednesday night, the content of which advised staffers to back up their work because the site was going to be closed down.
Staffers have heard nothing from management in response to their concerns about the potential shuttering of the site or layoffs.
Editors across the site met with their staff on Thursday and told them that they have asked for clarification from Vice management, but have heard nothing back, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Vice News’ top editor Josh Visser addressed staff on Thursday, telling them that he doesn’t know whether the site will be closed down.
The media company officially sold to a Fortress-led consortium for $350 million on July 31. The owners include Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital. The acquisition of Vice came after a tumultuous financial year, where the company filed for Chapter 11 in May. This was a dramatic fall from grace for the once-media giant, which was valued at $5.7 billion at one point.
