CNN will be hit by mass layoffs on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a memo from the cable network’s CEO Chris Licht.
He told employees CNN will inform paid contributors Wednesday of their status and full-time employees will be informed if they are still employed Thursday.
Licht ominously told CNN employees that ‘it will be a difficult time for everyone.’ He wrote:
“To my CNN colleagues, our people are the heart and soul of this organization. It is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many. I recently described this process as a gut punch, because I know that is how it feels for all of us.
“Today we will notify a limited number of individuals, largely some of our paid contributors, as part of a recalibrated reporting strategy.
BREAKING: CNN layoffs underway, expected to target hundreds of employees – Puck News
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 30, 2022
“Tomorrow, we will notify impacted employees, and tomorrow afternoon I will follow up with more details on these changes.
“It will be a difficult time for everyone.
“If your job has been impacted, you will learn more through an in-person meeting or via Zoom, depending on your location.
“In those meetings, you will receive information specific to you about notice period or any severance that would apply, and your anticipated last day.
“I want to be clear that everyone who is bonus eligible will still receive their 2022 bonuses, which are determined by company performance.
“I know these changes affect both our departing colleagues and those who remain, and we have resources designed to support you.
“I will include a link to those resources in my follow up email tomorrow.
“Let’s take care of each other this week,” he wrote.
Licht told journalist Kara Swisher earlier this month:
“Look, these are my cuts.
“I own this.
“This is my strategy and if I thought that there was a cut that somehow I was getting pushed to do something that I thought would be, in the, not in the interest of this company, I would push back hard, and I’ve not had to do that.”
Bye bye, legacy media: CNN Starts Layoffs Of Workforce As Parent Company Undergoes Cost-Cutting – Deadline https://t.co/DHowyGTRLj
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 30, 2022
CNN boss Chris Licht informs employees in an all-staff note that layoffs are underway.
Licht says those being notified today are largely paid contributors and then tomorrow CNN “will notify impacted employees.”
Licht will then provide an update to staff afterward. pic.twitter.com/nD0pt9Ruwj
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 30, 2022
