The digital media company Business Insider laid off 21% of its staff on Thursday, according to an internal memo from chief executive Barbara Peng obtained by ADWEEK.
The cuts will affect every department, although the publisher declined to share how many employees were affected.
“Since returning to our roots as Business Insider, we’ve been building toward something new,” Peng wrote. “This kind of transformation takes time—and it requires tough decisions along the way.”
In the note, Peng cited declines in traffic as one of the primary reasons for the reduction in headcount. Around 70% of Business Insider’s business relied on online traffic, and the restructure is meant to better position the publisher to thrive in an environment with fewer readers.
As part of the restructure, the publisher is also making a series of key shifts to its business.
It is scaling back on categories that “once performed well on other platforms but no longer drive meaningful readership” or are not areas where Business Insider can lead, according to the memo. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on which coverage areas are affected.
The Axel Springer-owned outlet is also “exiting the majority of our commerce business,” citing its reliance on search traffic, although it will maintain a few select verticals.
Finally, it is launching BI Live, a new live events journalism business. Business Insider has not historically had a robust experiential arm, even as other media organizations have flocked to that line of business in recent years.
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The digital media company Business Insider laid off 21% of its staff.