Axios Laying Off 50 Staffers, About 10% Of Workforce

Axios has laid off 50 staffers across the company, Deadline has confirmed, or roughly 10% of its 500-person staff, as the company pares down in an increasingly competitive news market.

“This is the most difficult moment for media in our lifetime,” the outlet’s chief executive, Jim VandeHei said in an email to employees obtained by Deadline. “Only those who move fast — and make difficult, decisive moves — will thrive. We will continue to hire in key areas but cannot ignore the changes around us.” Those include competition, shifting reader attention and behavior, and new rivals going after Axios’ core business and top talent.

He noted that, at the same time, Facebook, X and search are faltering as reliable traffic standbys.

These are Axios’ first layoffs since it was launched in 2017 by VandeHei, a Politico co-founder, and Politico journalists Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz. The three continued to run Axios after it was sold to Cox Enterprises in 2022 and continued to grow.

“Media companies of the future will be leaner, more demanding of distinctiveness, more indispensable to their audience and advertisers. There will be no market for mediocrity, or widely known, or fine-but-not-essential content or work,” he wrote.

Axios plans to focus on national as well as hyper-local city news and on expanding its Axios Pro business vertical.

“Think of today’s announcement as tightening our focus on areas we feel confident we can dominate, scale and monetize.”