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Dotdash Meredith will lay off 143 employees, approximately 4% of its workforce, the publishing giant confirmed last week.
The owner of publications including People magazine, Investopedia, and the Food & Wine magazine, announced the job cuts Thursday.
Other notable companies in the media industry have engaged in similar downsizing in recent months, including The Washington Post and Associated Press, in an attempt to cut costs and become more profitable.
The owner of over 40 well-known brands across the US, Dotdash describes itself as America’s largest digital and print publisher.
Journalists fear impact of OpenAI partnerships on job security
In May 2024, the media giant announced a controversial partnership with OpenAI. In exchange for licensing “trusted content” from Dotdash’s publications, OpenAI agreed to “display content and links attributed to DDM in relevant ChatGPT responses” and collaborate on the creation of “new AI products and features for its readers.”
The partnership was one of several agreements struck between OpenAI and well-known publications including Vox and The Atlantic. Writers and journalists employed by those publications, and the unions that represent them, have criticized such partnerships over their possible impact on job security, wide-ranging ethical concerns, and a lack of transparency.
A release in May quoted Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel, who stated: “We invest in the best writers, creators, infrastructure, and technology, and our brands' reputations speak for themselves.”
Vogel addressed the job cuts last week, Reuters reported.
“We will be significantly increasing investment in projects that help us connect directly with our audiences and connect directly with our advertisers, which we believe are our biggest opportunities,” he said.
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The media executive added that Dotdash hired 170 employees in 2024 and plans to do the same in 2025, indicating a reorganization is taking place within the business.
Earlier in January, The Washington Post similarly announced plans to cut 4% of its workforce across several business departments, with journalists unaffected by the layoffs.
“The Washington Post is continuing its transformation to meet the needs of the industry, build a more sustainable future, and reach audiences where they are,” a spokesperson told Reuters. The company reported a loss of $77million in 2023.
Recent studies have shown that the majority of American workers are worried about the impact of AI on their job security, with HR professionals facing an uphill battle to protect jobs, communicate about planned changes, and mitigate employee anxieties.
