Axios Called Out by Industry Observers for ‘Cutesy and Playful’ Memo Announcing Layoffs: ‘Broken Big Media Management Brain’
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Axios announced in an internal memo on Tuesday that they will lay off 10% of their staff — a move first reported by The New York Times.
The last day for laid off employees is this Friday and they will be given severance packages according to the staff memo sent by Axios CEO and co-founder Jim VandeHei. But beyond the staff cuts themselves, the outlet is coming under criticism for the manner in which it broke the bad news to their staff. The internal memo used the Axios signature “smart brevity” style to announce the layoffs citing the company would be “eliminating about 50 positions to get ahead of the tectonic shifts in the media, technology and reader needs/habits.” VandeHei further elaborated “this decision was mine” and wrote the layoffs were not reflective of any staffer’s quality of work saying, “it’s because of the changes in the media business.”
Multiple industry observers called out Axios for its handling of the layoffs.
Sam Mintz, an editor at Brookline News, commented, “Using the Axios story formatting to announce layoffs to your employees is sick, what the hell? Why are you trying to be cutesy and playful while telling people they are losing their jobs? Broken big media management brain at its absolute finest.”
Justin Baragona, media columnist at Zeteo news, penned, “There’s just something so unsettling that they used the Axios ‘smart brevity’ bulletpoint format to fire their staffers. WHY IT MATTERS: You will no longer have a job.”
Several Axios staffers took to X, formerly Twitter, to lament the job cuts. Dan Primack, a business editor at the outlet wrote on X, “So, this is a shitty day here at Axios. No way to sugarcoat that. We’re saying goodbye to some extraordinary colleagues, and I hope they all get picked up quick.”
Axios Senior tech policy reporter Ashley Gold also encouraged employers to hire her recently let-go coworkers. writing on X, “Such an exhausting and sad day and I didn’t even lose my job : ( My colleagues are the best of the best, please be kind and please hire them.”
Axios did not respond to a request for comment.
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