Since the lockdown was imposed for the containment of the novel coronavirus, the print and media industry is facing some heat on businesses. The printing of newspapers has now completely stopped and journalists are having a hard time moving to places for news coverage due to the travel bans imposed.
The struggling business owners of the industry have now resorted to tough measures to safeguard their businesses and conserve cash. Media companies are squeezed for cash and cutting costs as advertising takes a major hit during the pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
Recently, the owner of New York magazine, Vox Media announced its decision to furlough 9% of its workforce as a measure to cut company spending.
The said decision is supposed to affect about 100 of its employees from May to July. The company also said that about 1% of its workers will work under reduced hours and will have tiered pay cuts.
The company however assured that it will continue to pay health insurance premiums for its furloughed employees.
In a letter sent to employees, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff said that the cancellations of the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, and the March Madness college basketball tournament and the collapse of advertising impacted the company’s revenue in the first quarter.
“The impact will be significantly greater in the second quarter,” Bankoff added.
Bankoff and Vox President Pam Wasserstein are taking 50% pay cuts. The company is also halting all pay increases until the end of 2020.
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