Writing a weekly column is interesting. Interesting because nearly every column receives some feedback, but it is often surprising.
Last week, I wrote about Audacy announcing another workforce reduction of roughly 250 positions. I’m relatively sure that this column received more responses than any other I’ve written for Barrett Media since joining four months ago. For example, my LinkedIn profile views went up 150%.
While it isn’t surprising that a column about radio people losing their jobs got a big reaction on a website dedicated to radio, the nature of some of the responses caught me off guard.
More than the usual number of people who checked out my profile did so anonymously. I could see that many of them were from the broadcast industry, and several were along the eastern seaboard. That struck me as odd. The number of listeners that commented in support of air personalities was also unexpected.
Let’s start here: naturally, I’m not fond of the idea that the response to a bad quarter is to fire another 500 people. I also understand that upper management is trying to protect the other 4,500 employees and the shareholders. Further, Audacy didn’t do anything that every other major broadcaster has done at least a half-dozen times since 2008.
For that matter, Audacy did what every company does during economically challenging times. Ford just announced a reduction in its workforce of about 3,000. People close to me have spent their entire careers working for Ford.
Ford is remaking itself from a company that manufactures automobiles with internal combustion engines to one that makes electric vehicles (EVs). The most successful company producing EVs is Tesla, which recently laid off 229 people. Amazon-backed competitor, Rivian will shed 5% of its 14,000 employees.
One of the people who contacted me is a tenured sales rep from Groupon, who was one of 500-people laid off by the online discount merchant. They reported that Groupon took good care of them on the way out, which is better than the treatment most radio people receive when they lose their jobs, so there’s that.
Many eCommerce platforms that saw business swell during the pandemic are now making cutbacks, including Shopify (1,000 workers) and Wayfair. The Wall Street Journal reports that the home goods and furniture website would lay off nearly 900 people – 5% of its workforce.
Peloton – the trendy exercise fitness company whose exercise bikes were all the rage during the pandemic, has announced that it will lay off nearly 800 employees. That’s after letting 2,800 people go in February. Peloton is also starting to sell its merchandise on Amazon and raise prices.
Netflix, one of the enormous success stories of the internet age and a darling of the pandemic era, has already gone through two rounds of layoffs this year. Vimeo, the video hosting and sharing platform, another sweetheart of the pandemic, is cutting 6% of its 1,220 employees.
The real estate and mortgage markets are cooling to levels not seen since the great recession of 2008. Therefore, according to Business Insider, ReMax will lay off 17% of its workforce by the end of the year, and JP Morgan is cutting 1,000 jobs from its home lending unit. Even 7-Eleven is laying off 880 people from corporate jobs.
None of these companies will serve their customers better by trimming their workforce. By reducing expenses, they all will have a better chance of achieving their target profitability numbers for the upcoming quarters. That’s the reason for the cuts.
When companies across a wide range of industries resort to mass layoffs, the economy is in trouble.
The president, administration officials, and Nobel Prize-winning economists like Paul Krugman at The New York Times can continue to deny the U.S. is in a recession for a while longer. Still, eventually, the data will show that we’ve been in a recession for several months.
Audacy may have been first but strap yourself in as the economy continues to deteriorate. I’m sorry to say, more workforce reductions from other companies in the radio industry are coming. You heard it here first.
Andy Bloom is president of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT and WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc. and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio. He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter @AndyBloomCom.
