Fortune CEO Murray: Our future has never looked brighter

Fortune magazine CEO Alan Murray sent the following to the staff on Tuesday:

Team —

As you probably know, members of Fortune’s U.S. union decided to implement a 24-hour work stoppage today. This is surprising and unfortunate. Fortune has negotiated, and will continue to negotiate, in good faith with the union. I will leave details to the negotiating committee, but I have every reason to believe we will reach agreement.

In the meantime, you should know that Fortune is moving forward. Indeed, I can honestly say our future has never looked bright to me than it does today.

We are growing our editorial team. We’ve added seven new journalists during the first quarter, and we have more coming on board in the near future. We also are injecting the newsroom with much-needed diversity. More than two thirds of those new edit hires have been journalists of color.

We learned new skills during the last year that have helped us grow our media audience and improve our premium subscription efforts. We successfully pivoted our conference business to virtual, holding more than 125 virtual events in the last twelve months. And we have launched a remarkably successful new product, Fortune CONNECT, that is profitable and growing. We’re being more strategic and creative about how we balance our ambitious goals, and we’re dreaming up new products and projects that show off the talents of our staff. Company-wide, that staff is also becoming more diverse. Of the 32 full and part-time hires in the U.S. and Europe in the last year, 19 have been women, and 16 have been from communities of color.

I know all of you care deeply about Fortune and its future. It is that devotion that has enabled us to get through the last year and emerge in a better place. You have much to be proud of. Your loyalty to, and your belief in, Fortune is paying off. Thank you.

Alan

The memo was criticized by the union in a tweet thread here.