UPDATE: A Washington Post rep told TheWrap no members of its information technology team lost their jobs as part of the cuts, as The New York Times reported.
The Washington Post is laying off roughly 100 employees — or about 4% of its workforce — the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet disclosed on Tuesday. The job cuts will affect the business side of the paper, not its newsroom, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Changes across our business functions are all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future,” WaPo said in a statement shared with WSJ.
WaPo’s cuts will affect members of its advertising, marketing and information technology teams, according to The New York Times. The paper was hit with 240 job cuts in October 2023.
The Post’s latest job cuts come after 2024 was a brutal year for the media industry in terms of layoffs. In 2024, nearly 15,000 jobs were eliminated across broadcast, television, film, news and streaming — extending a two-year run in which the news and entertainment businesses were dealt body blows.
WaPo’s cuts also come a month after Bezos said the outlet made the “right decision” to not endorse a candidate during the 2024 U.S. election. The Amazon founder spearheaded the decision to not have WaPo’s editorial board endorse Kamala Harris over Donald Trump — marking the first time in 36 years the paper didn’t endorse a presidential candidate.
If The Post were to endorse Harris, Bezos noted that the “plusses were small” and that it would add to a “perception of bias.” Their non-endorsement of Harris was skewered by many media reporters and readers, with former executive editor Marty Baron calling it “cowardice.”
