Mass layoffs announced at HuffPost today - HuffPost Canada Closing

The Huffington Post was launched on May 9, 2005 as a commentary outlet, blog, and an alternative to news aggregators such as the Drudge Report.

BuzzFeed announced 47 layoffs for the HuffPost newsroom on Tuesday, three weeks after acquiring HuffPost from Verizon Media in February.

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti told HuffPost on Tuesday that the cuts were part of an effort to “fast-track the path to profitability” for the newly acquired property. A representative for BuzzFeed did not immediately return a request for further comment.

“The restructuring announced today is not a short-term cost-cutting exercise, we are shifting to a model that will enable HuffPost to break even this year and eventually be profitable, and that requires both cost management through restructuring, along with revenue acceleration, which will be managed by BuzzFeed’s business organization.”

The HuffPost Union, organized as part of the Writers Guild of America, East, slammed the restructuring effort in a statement:

Today, we learned that 33 of our colleagues — nearly 30% of our unit — will be laid off. We are devastated and infuriated, particularly after an exhausting year of covering a pandemic and working from home. This is also happening less than a month after HuffPost was acquired by BuzzFeed. We never got a fair shot to prove our worth. These layoffs reiterate the importance of forming a union and advocating for our colleagues. We are glad that we are protected by a collective bargaining agreement and that our colleagues will receive severance. Our union will continue fighting to make HuffPost a more just and equitable workplace, including pushing for clear and accountable commitments to hiring and promoting more people of color and for transparency around pay equity.

HuffPost Canada Closing

HuffPost Canada will stop publishing content, the outlet announced on its website Tuesday.

"As of March 9, HuffPost Canada will no longer be publishing content. Existing content will be maintained as an online archive," a statement on their website read.

The HuffPost Canada Union said operations at HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec will shut down operations next week.

"All of our staff are now out of a job," the HuffPost Canada Union said in a series of tweets.