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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Business Insider goes 'all-in on AI,' laying off 21% of staff
Business Insider has laid off about one fifth of its workforce, a sweeping round of cuts that affected every department and drew swift criticism from former employees and their union. The layoffs were announced in a staff memo from Business Insider chief executive Barbara Peng, who framed the cuts as part of a long-term transformation strategy to make the publication "the essential source of business, tech, and innovation journalism." "We are reducing the size of our organization, a move that will impact about 21% of our colleagues and touch every department," Peng wrote in the memo, which was sent to staff at the end of May. "While today's changes are what we must do to build the most enduring Business Insider, it doesn't make them any easier," she added. In addition to scaling back on coverage areas and "traffic-sensitive business," Business Insider plans to exit most of its Commerce verticals, which have long been a major revenue driver through affiliate links and search engine traffic. The company also announced a new push into live journalism events through a platform called BI Live and a sharp pivot toward artificial intelligence. "Over 70% of Business Insider employees are already using Enterprise ChatGPT regularly (our goal is 100%), and we're building prompt libraries and sharing everyday use cases that help us work faster, smarter, and better," Peng wrote. The focus on AI did not sit well with the Insider Union, a unit of the NewsGuild of New York, which sharply rebuked the layoffs in a statement Thursday. "To say this was tone-deaf to include in an email on layoffs would be an understatement," the union said, referring to Peng's emphasis on going "all-in on AI" in the same announcement. "Our position as a union is that no AI tool or technology should — or can — take the place of human beings." According to the union, about 20% of its members were affected by the layoffs. "The layoffs of our talented co-workers and union members is another example of Axel Springer's brazen pivot away from journalism toward greed," the statement read, referencing the German media conglomerate that owns Business Insider. "This is the third round of layoffs in as many years and it is unacceptable that union members and other talented coworkers are again paying the price for the strategic failures of Business Insider's leadership," the union added. Former staffers began sharing the news of their departures across social media. "I'm one of a big bunch of journalists who got laid off from Business Insider today. This sucks!" wrote Adam Rogers, a longtime journalist and former Wired editor, on Bluesky. "Which is to say, I wish the profession I've spent my life chasing wasn't in such chaos." Others pointed to the significant cuts within the Commerce team, a division once heavily focused on search-optimized shopping content. William Antonelli, a former full-time staffer laid off from Business Insider last year, wrote on X, "Today's layoffs destroyed the Commerce team, my only source of semi-stable freelance work." Though much of the media industry has heartily embraced commerce content over the last decade, Business Insider cited volatility in traffic and the decline of search-driven referral models as reasons to curtail its coverage. "We're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility," Peng wrote. In its place is BI Live, a new division centered on live journalism and in-person events that's aimed at connecting with its audience and expanding its experiential offerings. Peng ended her memo by urging employees to lean on one another for support during the transition, acknowledging the difficulty of the changes and the challenges ahead. The Insider Union, meanwhile, vowed to hold management accountable to the terms of its contract. "We expect Business Insider management to follow the layoff procedures outlined in our contract and treat our members with the respect they deserve," the union stated. Sign in to access your portfolio
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Business Insider cuts 21% of workforce, memo shows
Business Insider is laying off about 21% of its workforce, an internal memo showed on Thursday, as the financial news outlet grapples with shrinking search traffic and the growing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The New York-based company joins several digital media companies in restructuring operations as consumers increasingly depend on artificial intelligence for news synopsis, which is eating into web traffic. In the memo, CEO Barbara Peng told staff the company now generates twice as much revenue for each website visit as it did two years ago, but 70% of its business still has some degree of traffic sensitivity. "We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility," Peng said in the memo seen by Reuters. The New York-based company is accelerating adoption of AI, with a majority of employees already utilizing Enterprise ChatGPT and several AI-driven products to enhance operations and reader experience, Peng said. The website is realigning its content strategy to concentrate on areas that attract high reader engagement, and is exiting the majority of its commerce business, Peng said. It is also launching a new events business called BI Live, Peng said, adding that it has already seen some demand and will continue to build the team. Earlier this year, Washington Post and Associated Press laid off 4% and 8% of their workforce respectively in a bid to cut costs and modernize operations.
The Verge
7 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Business Insider lays off 21 percent of staff to 'endure extreme traffic drops.'
As reported by The Information and Axios reporter Sara Fischer, CEO Barbara Peng emailed staff on Thursday announcing Business Insider is 'scaling back on categories that once performed well on other platforms' and mostly exiting its search-reliant Commerce business in an apparent acknowledgement of Google Zero, despite Sundar Pichai's rebuttals. Now it's shrinking, noting '70 percent of our business has some degree of traffic sensitivity,' while going all-in on AI with a push to use Enterprise ChatGPT, gen-AI site search, an AI paywall, and other products.
The Star
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Business Insider cuts 21% of workforce, memo shows
FILE PHOTO: Barbara Peng, CEO of Business Insider, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference, in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo (Reuters) -Business Insider is laying off about 21% of its workforce, an internal memo showed on Thursday, as the financial news outlet grapples with shrinking search traffic and the growing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The New York-based company joins several digital media companies in restructuring operations as consumers increasingly depend on artificial intelligence for news synopsis, which is eating into web traffic. In the memo, CEO Barbara Peng told staff the company now generates twice as much revenue for each website visit as it did two years ago, but 70% of its business still has some degree of traffic sensitivity. "We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility," Peng said in the memo seen by Reuters. The New York-based company is accelerating adoption of AI, with a majority of employees already utilizing Enterprise ChatGPT and several AI-driven products to enhance operations and reader experience, Peng said. The website is realigning its content strategy to concentrate on areas that attract high reader engagement, and is exiting the majority of its commerce business, Peng said. It is also launching a new events business called BI Live, Peng said, adding that it has already seen some demand and will continue to build the team. Earlier this year, Washington Post and Associated Press laid off 4% and 8% of their workforce respectively in a bid to cut costs and modernize operations. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
New York Post
29-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Business Insider axing 21% of workforce as AI sends web search traffic plunging
Business Insider is laying off about 21% of its workforce, an internal memo showed on Thursday, as the financial news outlet grapples with shrinking search traffic and the growing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The New York-based company joins several digital media companies in restructuring operations as consumers increasingly depend on artificial intelligence for news synopsis, which is eating into web traffic. In the memo, CEO Barbara Peng told staff the company now generates twice as much revenue for each website visit as it did two years ago, but 70% of its business still has some degree of traffic sensitivity. Advertisement Business Insider joins several digital media companies in restructuring operations as consumers increasingly depend on artificial intelligence for news synopsis, which is eating into web traffic. Dennis – 'We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility,' Peng said in the memo seen by Reuters. The New York-based company is accelerating adoption of AI, with a majority of employees already utilizing Enterprise ChatGPT and several AI-driven products to enhance operations and reader experience, Peng said. Advertisement The website is realigning its content strategy to concentrate on areas that attract high reader engagement, and is exiting the majority of its commerce business, Peng said. It is also launching a new events business called BI Live, Peng said, adding that it has already seen some demand and will continue to build the team. 'We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility,' CEO Barbara Peng said in a memo. Getty Images for Gold House Earlier this year, Washington Post and Associated Press laid off 4% and 8% of their workforce respectively in a bid to cut costs and modernize operations.
