The media company, which originally thought it would avoid cuts, has changed its tune and is now implementing temporary salary cuts company-wide as well as a hiring freeze and employing less freelance employees.
Vox Media, owner of sites including Vox, The Verge and New York magazine, is furloughing about 9% of its employees for three months. The decision is one of several measures the digital media company announced to cut costs after the coronavirus pandemic decimated its revenue sources.
Dave Lougee, Tegna CEO, sent an email to employees Monday announcing companywide weeklong furloughs to be taken in the second quarter of this year. The company is implementing a “one week furlough for most employees to be taken between the week of April 20 and the week of June 26. Lougee said he and the Tegna board will take a 25% pay cut during April, May and June.
“The furlough program will cause financial disruption for employees and scheduling challenges for our operations,” CEO Marshall Morton writes in a memo sent to Media General staff this afternoon. “It’s little comfort that we are not alone.”
