BuzzFeed Cuts Staff Pay By As Much As 25% As Coronavirus Pressure Mounts

Topline: BuzzFeed reportedly plans to cut most employee salaries, as the coronavirus eats into advertiser spending. The move is intended to avoid the need for layoffs down the road.

• According to The Daily Beast, which first reported the news, employees making less than $65,000 per year will be paid 5% less for the months of April and May.
• Employees making between $65,000 and $90,000 per year will take a 7% cut, while executive pay will fall 14% to 25%. 
• Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s CEO, said in an internal memo that he “will not be taking a salary until we are on the other side of this crisis.” 
• The company is also looking to save on overhead by reducing new hires and travel, among other measures. 

Key Background: More than 100 million Americans are under guidance to stay at home as the COVID-19 virus spreads across the country. That has dramatically increased news consumption. Many outlets—from local papers like the New Orleans Advocate to national TV stations like CNN—report that their audiences have more than doubled. But the virus is wreaking havoc on economic activity, and marketers are scaling back their advertising plans. The media business will likely suffer additional pressure as economic conditions further decline. 

Tangent: Pressure may be doubly high on Peretti to avoid layoffs following an embittered process last year, in which the company shed hundreds of workers. Motivated in part by that situation, BuzzFeed News employees voted to unionize in February 2019.