Dotdash Meredith to lay off 7% of staff

Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest print and digital publishers in the country, is laying off 274 people, roughly 7% of its staff, its CEO Neil Vogel told employees in a note obtained by Axios Thursday morning.

The big picture: It’s the latest media company to cut staff in the wake of the economic uncertainty plaguing the advertising market.

Details: Human resources and business leaders will be meeting with impacted employees Thursday morning, per the note.

• The cuts will be spread across nearly all departments, according to a source familiar with the efforts.
• Laid off employees will receive severance, options for health insurance continuation, “and will be offered transition support including outplacement services,” Vogel wrote.

Catch up quick: Dotdash Meredith’s parent, the publicly-trade internet holding company IAC, acquired roughly two dozen Meredith titles a little over a year ago as part of a $2.7 billion acquisition of Meredith’s national media group.

• The purpose of the deal was to leverage Dotdash’s digital expertise to help modernize and streamline Meredith’s magazine brands and introduce new online business opportunities around them, like e-commerce.
• As a part of that transition, Dotdash Meredith last year cut the print editions to six Meredith titles, including EatingWell, Entertainment Weekly, Health, InStyle, Parents and People en Español. Around 200 jobs primarily supporting print operations were eliminated at that time.

What they’re saying: “[W}e are not immune to the broader challenges of the ad industry and of the economy as a whole, and today’s actions are a direct response to these realities,” Vogel wrote.

• “Like many businesses in our space, we have grown aggressively over the last few years, while also integrating our two companies,” he added.
• “With the difficult market environment and economic uncertainty that lie ahead, we must prioritize our biggest opportunities and make sure we have the proper cost structure in place to pursue them.”
• “Today’s actions provide for the most effective and focused use of our resources and put us in a position of strength as we look toward the future.”

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