Huffington Post Cuts Dozens of Employees as Part of Video Pivot

According to an employee in attendance, Arianna Huffington told staff at an all-hands meeting Monday that 25 HuffPost Live staffers were laid off as a result of the company's video strategy realignment, announced on Friday. A few additional editorial employees were also dismissed as part of the pivot, according to the employee. (Another employee, in advance of the meeting, pegged the total number of layoffs at around 38.) Ms. Huffington and Huffington Post chief executive Jared Grusd announced the video shift in a Friday memo first obtained by Politico Media. The digital media company's video units -- HuffPost Live, HuffPost News, HuffPost Originals and HuffPost Rise -- will be combined, and HuffPost Live will cease publishing eight hours of live video each day, though it will still cover stories live when warranted. Given the shift in HuffPost Live's mission, word of layoffs didn't come as a major surprise. Ms. Huffington, at the time of the announcement, wouldn't say how many employees had been dismissed, but told The Wall Street Journal that less than one percent of staffers were affected by the change. When asked how the video pivot would impact plans for HuffPost 24, the 24-hour video network announced in June, a company spokeswoman said that the changes announced Friday will lead to the creation of one central video hub, in line with the vision for HuffPost 24.

Huffington Post Cuts Dozens of Employees as Part of Video Pivot

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