Half of CityLab’s staff will be cut as part of Bloomberg deal

Half of the staff at CityLab will lose their jobs as part of its acquisition by Bloomberg Media, reports Matt Cohen of Mother Jones.

Cohen reports, “When CityLab’s employees were briefed by Atlantic management on the sale on Tuesday, they were told that, as part of the acquisition, Bloomberg Media would only be bringing seven people from their staff on board. (CityLab’s masthead lists 15 people, but at least three of those people, and one not listed on the masthead, are full-time contractors according to a CityLab staffer.) In that same meeting, a CityLab staffer says they were also given severance information by Atlantic management in the event that they are not hired by Bloomberg Media or do ‘not want to go forward with that [interview] process.’ As part of the transition, Bloomberg Media executives have been conducting crash interviews this week with the current CityLab staff who wish to be considered for one of the seven positions.

“‘Over the last few days, most of the staff has received comments [from friends and on Twitter] saying ‘Congratulations!’ and asking if we’re moving to New York or what our new job title will be,’ says one of the CityLab staffers Mother Jones spoke to. ‘But the reality is most of us are being laid off.'”

Read more here.