The Washington Post Announces Layoffs Impacting About 4% Of Staff

The Washington Post announced that it is eliminating less than 100 positions, in layoffs that will impact about 4% of its total staff.

A Post spokesperson indicated that the job reductions would be in the business side of the publication.

“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 Post spokesperson said. “Changes across our business functions are all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future.”

The layoffs at the Bezos-owned Post come as its CEO, Will Lewis, wrestles with a downturn in audience and revenue. He’s already announced a restructuring of the newsroom, while its executive editor, Sally Buzbee, resigned last year, succeeded by Matt Murray.

In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, the Post announced that it would not endorse a candidate in the presidential race, a decision ordered by Bezos. That led to a readership backlash, with many canceling their subscriptions, on the belief that Bezos was trying to get in Donald Trump’s good graces on the chance that he would win the presidential election. NPR reported that more 200,000 canceled their subscriptions in the first few days after the non-endorsement announcement was made.

The Post has recently seen the loss of some of its star political reporters, including Josh Dawsey, and Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who have joined The Atlantic.