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Insider is laying off 10 percent of its US staff

Barbara Peng, president of Insider, sent out the following on Thursday:

Team,

As you know, our industry has been under significant pressure for more than a year. The economic headwinds that have hurt many of our clients and partners are also affecting us. Unfortunately, to keep our company healthy and competitive, we need to reduce the size of our team. We have tried hard to avoid taking this step, and we are sorry about the impact it will have on many of you.

The reduction will affect about 10% of our team. As part of this, we intend to make changes that would impact members of the union. Union rules prevent us from directly engaging with members, but we will work closely with union leadership to provide clarity on our proposed changes.

Our goal today is to be as transparent as possible, as quickly as possible.

If your role is being impacted today, you will receive an email in the next 15 minutes. The email will include details for a meeting today in which a senior leader and a member of our People & Culture team will walk you through your package and answer any questions. You will only receive an email if your role is affected.

To those leaving today, we are extremely grateful to you for your contributions here and for helping to build Insider’s newsroom, business, and culture. Your work has made a difference, and it has been a privilege to work with you. We will do as much as we can to support you during the transition.

Everyone impacted will receive a minimum of 13 weeks base pay, plus an additional two weeks for every year you have been with us over four years. We will cover medical benefits through August 2023. Prorated bonuses will be paid for those employees who are bonus eligible. We will offer career support services including 1:1 coaching sessions, resume review, and training on networking, interviewing, and negotiations.

We thank you all for your dedication and professionalism, especially today. This is a difficult time for all of us. As we go through this transition, things may feel a bit bumpy. We will get through it together, just as we always have. Today is about taking care of yourselves and your colleagues.

We will hold a company-wide all hands call today (Thursday) at 11:30AM EST; calendar invite to come. Additionally, our company leaders will be holding office hours tomorrow and over the next two weeks. Stay tuned for details on those.

We are also attaching a Q&A to help answer questions you may have and share resources.

Thank you.

A company spokesman said he could not offer any guidance on how many in Insider’s business news operation would be affected.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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