GeekWire cuts five staff amid pandemic

Tech news site GeekWire announced Friday that it was cutting five staffers because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Co-founder and editor Todd Bishop writes, “We’ve made the difficult decision to lay off or furlough five of our colleagues, representing about 30 percent of GeekWire’s 16-person team, primarily in our business and sales departments. They include longtime teammates and others who joined us only recently.

“After more than nine years in business as an independent media organization, operating profitably for much of our history, it’s the first time we’ve made any significant job cuts. It’s a decision we never wanted to make. We understand the impact that losing a job can have, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure that our colleagues can land on their feet.

“We ask subjects and sources to be transparent and candid with us, and we feel it’s especially important to do the same ourselves in our communication about GeekWire with the community.

“As reflected by our hiring in recent months, we were blindsided by these extraordinary economic circumstances. More than half of our revenue has historically been tied to in-person events.”

Read more here.