Two big magazine publishers, on two sides of the Atlantic, are shrinking print and search-dependent teams and giving very different accounts of why.
NEW YORK, United States (Journo News) – One of America’s largest magazine and lifestyle publishers has cut 195 jobs, about 6 percent of its workforce, and told staff the bulk of the losses fall in print and legacy web businesses. Weeks earlier, a British publisher with a very different portfolio cut jobs and put the blame squarely on one thing: the decline in search. Read together, the two announcements show how a publisher’s explanation for layoffs shapes what its journalists should expect next.
Two memos, two explanations
People Inc., the company formerly known as Dotdash Meredith, told staff of the cuts in a memo from chief executive Neil Vogel, according to TheWrap. Vogel said the company had significantly increased investment in new projects and was aligning with its biggest opportunities, that most of those affected worked in print and legacy web, and that it had added 320 employees so far this year. Adweek’s report adds that HR and business leaders arranged one-on-one meetings with those affected and describes the company as moving its investment toward new bets such as social video.
Future plc, the British owner of TechRadar, Tom’s Guide and Android Central, was blunter. In a memo reported by Press Gazette, chief executive Kevin Li Ying said roles were at risk because of the decline in search, and that the decisions did not reflect staff performance. The coverage of the People Inc. cuts that we reviewed does not tie them to search traffic, and it would be wrong to assume it did.
What the Future numbers show
Press Gazette’s figures, based on Ipsos iris UK data, make the search problem concrete.
- TechRadar’s UK monthly audience fell about 25 percent between January and August, from 3.4 million to 2.5 million, and is down 35 percent on July 2024.
- Tom’s Guide fell 38 percent over the same months, from 2.2 million to 1.4 million, and is down 55 percent on July 2024.
- July 2024 is the benchmark because it was a month before Google’s AI Overviews appeared at the top of UK search results.
Future said earlier this year that 15 percent of group revenue came from brands that still relied on Google for most of their audience and revenue, with a further 45 percent from brands in transition but still heavily dependent on it. Group revenue is on track for about 707 million pounds for the year to 30 September, down 4 percent, and the company paused a share buyback after spending about 24 million pounds of a 30 million pound programme to focus on debt. Its shares, at 296 pence at the time of writing, valued it at about 263 million pounds, roughly a tenth of its peak five years ago. This is a company where the audience figures and the balance sheet tell the same story.
The Android Central dispute
The most contested detail in the Future story is Android Central. The Verge reported that all of the site’s staff were laid off, including its editor-in-chief and managing editor, who were among six people listed on its about page. Future denied that the site is closing and said it will continue to publish it, with more information to follow. Those two statements can both be true if the site continues with a different model, but nobody outside Future has yet explained what that model is. The test will be whether a byline appears on the site in the weeks ahead.
What “print and legacy web” tells us
People Inc.’s phrase is worth unpacking. TheWrap lists the company’s portfolio as including People, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipes, Southern Living, The Spruce, Health, Parents, InStyle and Entertainment Weekly, though it does not say which of them lost staff. The same outlet notes that a year earlier the company laid off 226 people, and that this round follows that one, so this is the second year running that the company has made cuts on this scale.
It is a pattern many publishers will recognise: protect the growth businesses, shrink the older ones, and describe the result as reallocation. The company’s own case, that it hired 320 people while cutting 195, is a fair argument and should be reported alongside the layoffs. The counter-view from staff who lose work in established brands is that “legacy” is a label applied by management to the parts of the business that still have loyal audiences and editorial standards to uphold. Neither side’s view is settled by the documents we have.
Practical points for journalists in service, lifestyle and tech
- Ask which of your outputs depend on search for audience, and which have a direct relationship with readers through email, apps or video.
- Look for what your employer says it is investing in. The Adweek description of social video as a new bet is a sign of where hiring may go.
- Keep portfolios current. When a company says it is hiring in new areas while cutting in old ones, the new roles often require different skills.
- Track audience trends for your own titles. The Ipsos iris figures quoted in the Future reporting show how a steady slide can be documented.
What comes next is not yet clear from the reporting. People Inc.’s staff will be watching for a bigger shift to video, and Future’s for whether the search decline stabilises or keeps pushing revenue down. For lighter takes on publishers and their travails, Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat lampoon the industry at Bohiney Magazine, while the numbers above are no laughing matter for those affected.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/