FEBRUARY 23, 2024 —VICE SHUTS DOWN CONTENT SITE: HUNDREDS IMPACTED
The company will no longer publish material on its Vice.com website and plans to lay off several hundred employees.
CEO Bruce Dixon noted, “I know that saying goodbye to our valued colleagues is difficult and feels overwhelming, but this is the best path forward for Vice as we position the company for long-term creative and financial success.”
Dear Vice Team,
As we navigate the ever-evolving business landscape, we need to adapt and best align our strategies to be more competitive in the long term.
After careful consideration and discussion with the board, we have decided to make some fundamental changes to our strategic vision at Vice.
We create and produce outstanding original content true to the Vice brand. However, it is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously. Moving forward, we will look to partner with established media companies to distribute our digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as we fully transition to a studio model.
As part of this shift, we will no longer publish content on vice.com, instead putting more emphasis on our social channels as we accelerate our discussions with partners to take our content to where it will be viewed most broadly.
Separately, Refinery 29 will continue to operate as a standalone diversified digital publishing business, creating engaging, social-first content.
As you know, we are in advanced discussions to sell this business, and we are continuing with that process. We expect to announce more on that in the coming weeks.
With this strategic shift comes the need to realign our resources and streamline our overall operations at Vice.
Regrettably, this means that we will be reducing our workforce, eliminating several hundred positions. This decision was not made lightly, and I understand the significant impact it will have on those affected. Employees who will be affected will notified about next steps early next week, consistent with local laws and practices.
I know that saying goodbye to our valued colleagues is difficult and feels overwhelming, but this is the best path forward for Vice as we position the company for long-term creative and financial success.
Our financial partners are supportive and have agreed to invest in this operating model going forward. We will emerge stronger and more resilient as we embark on this new phase of our journey.
Thank you for your continued dedication to Vice and support during this time of transition. Together, I am confident that we will overcome any challenges and achieve our shared goals.
Bruce
APRIL 30, 2023 — 100 LAYOFFS
Vice is continuing with the restructuring of its global news operation, including shuttering its Vice News Tonight broadcast and attempting to sell itself as it is laying off 100+ employees.
A company spokesperson noted, “We are transforming VICE News to better withstand market realities and more closely align with how and where we see our audiences engaging with our content most.”
JANUARY 19, 2023 — SALE PROCESS RESTARTED AT A LOWER VALUATION
It appears that Vice Media is restarting its sale process after earlier bidders rejected the initial valuation and price tag.
It appears the move is being driven by Vice’s lenders, notably Fortress Investment Group which is seeking repayment on its loans.
MAY 2, 2022 — VICE FOR SALE? EMPLOYEES BEWARE!
Following the failure of a SPAC-based IPO, Vice Media appears to have hired financial advisors, New York, New York-based PJT Partners, a financial and strategic advisory service, and New York, New York-based LionTree, an investment bank, to investigate the sale of the entire company or its major assets.
AUGUST 27, 2021 — STEALTH LAYOFF
Cory Haik, Vice’s chief digital officer, sent a memo noting Vice’s intention to incorporate more video in their product line.
“As part of this continued global alignment we’ve unfortunately had to say goodbye to some of our friends and colleagues. We wish them well and thank them for their dedicated service over the years.”
It is being reported that the “layoffs mainly came from the female-focused Refinery29, as well as Vice’s lifestyle-centric digital sites like Noisey and Munchies, which cover music and food, respectively. Those sites will have fewer articles and more videos in the future.”
MAY 15, 2020 — REDUCTION IN FORCE: 155 EMPLOYEES
Vice Media has confirmed that it will lay off 55 domestic and 100 international employees to re-balance the workforce.
According to a company spokesperson, Currently, our digital organization accounts for around 50 percent of our headcount costs, but only brings in about 21 percent of our revenue. Looking at our business holistically, this imbalance needed to be addressed for the long-term health of our company.
“Publishing right now is difficult across the whole industry — plain and simple — and the pandemic has intensified the tensions we all know exist between publishing and advertising. We aren't seeing the return from the platforms benefiting and making money from our hard work. Now, after many years of this, the squeeze is becoming a chokehold."
APRIL 21, 2020 — PLANNING DOCUMENT CIRCULATING AMONG EXECUTIVES MAY PORTEND 300 LAYOFFS IN DIGITIAL GROUP
The Wall Street Journal is reporting…
“An internal document at Vice Media Group lays out a plan for substantial layoffs at the new-media company’s websites, as Vice considers a variety of options to deal with coronavirus pandemic.
The planning document, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, calls for layoffs of over 300 people in digital operations, including major cuts at both Vice News and Refinery29, the women-focused digital publisher Vice acquired last year.
A Vice Media Group spokeswoman said the planning document represented one of several scenarios being developed inside the company for potential consideration and hadn’t been endorsed by management.
“This information also does not reflect [Vice Media Group] standard global reporting metrics and while all media companies are taking steps to plan for precautionary measures during Covid-19, no decisions at VMG have been made,” the spokeswoman said.
The savings from the cuts laid out in the document would be about $40 million, and they could result in a 30% decline in digital traffic as less content is published, the document said.”
Many companies are using the Covid-19 pandemic to effect operational restructuring and reductions in headcount to deal with existing structural and financial problems and to prepare for a recovery without undue Wall Street and media scrutiny.
JUNE 4, 2019 — SOMEONE HAS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
In a staff email, the Senior Vice President for Digital has announced, “In making changes to the organizational structure of the digital editorial group, we had to make difficult decisions that mean Jonathan Smith and Rachel Schallom are no longer with the company.
Jonathan Smith, a ten-year Vice veteran served as the editor in chief for three years, and Rachel Schallom had been Vice’s managing editor for less than a year.
The red ink does not stop with these two and Disney has already written off more that $500 million for its 25% investment in Vice.
FEBRUARY 12, 2019 — LIVING THE HIGH LIFE WHEN YOU ARE LAYING OFF EMPLOYEES
The New York Post’s Page Six noted that Vice co-founder and Executive Chairman Shane Smith is a Las Vegas, Nevada high-roller.
“The bearded Canadian, who was said to be worth $1 billion two years ago, regularly flies with his family to Vegas on a private jet provided by the Mansion at MGM.
With Vice expecting $50 million in losses this year and a round of layoffs underway that will trim off 10 percent of its workforce, a former Vice staffer told me, “It’s disheartening.” The staffer said that “while Vice burns,” Smith seems to be “fiddling in Vegas.”
Smith plays blackjack in a private salon with $25,000 orange-colored chips known as “pumpkins.” There are no other players, just a dealer, and a floorman.
When he wins, Smith is a big tipper, known in Vegas vernacular as a “George.” “He has been known to tip over $100,000,” my source said.” Read more on Page Six.
But what is more galling appears to be the hypocrisy of Vice whose headlines are troublesome.
FEBRUARY 5, 2019 — Original post…
New York City, New York-based Vice Media, started as an alternative-culture magazine in Montreal, Canada, has accounted that they are executing a reduction in force of approximately 10-percent of its employees in a restructuring move. An estimated 250 employees will be affected.
The company will be structured around five separate media business units, including studio, TV, digital, news and Virtue, the company’s advertising agency.
In a statement by Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc, “Having finalized the 2019 budget, our focus shifts to executing our goals and hitting our marks. To this end, we’ve had to make hard but necessary operating decisions. Starting today, the next phase of our plan begins as we reorganize our global workforce. Unfortunately, this means we will have to say goodbye to some of our Vice colleagues. The reorg at Vice will shift from a country-centric structure to one geared around the company’s five lines of business: studios, news, digital, TV and in-house ad agency Virtue. We will make Vice the best manifestation of itself and cement its place long into the future.”
It should come as no surprise as a number of media companies have struggled with declining revenues and increased costs while searching for a sustainable business model that differentiates their offerings from more well-funded competitors.
The company has been plagued by leadership changes involving allegations of having a “culture of sexual misconduct” and company-paid settlements with various involved parties. The founders published a mea culpa in the form of a statement to employees that noted “Listening to our employees over the past year, the truth is inescapable: from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive”
There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?