After announcing a revamp of its daily lineup earlier this week, MSNBC is also set to begin a round of layoffs that will affect roughly 100 employees.
According to The Writers Guild of America East, “mass layoffs” from “at least nine different shows” will be enacted in the coming days. The union says 99 of its members are expected to see their positions eliminated.
“This devastating news comes after the slow, painful trickle of announcements regarding a near-total overhaul of the network’s broadcast line-up,” a statement from the union said.
The MSNBC Union called for an immediate end to the cuts.
“The MSNBC Union demands the Company not lay off any of the employees it has slated to be laid off but rather reassign them as needed,” the group wrote. “In the event that any employees are not retained, we demand the Company follow the layoff provisions of the collective bargaining agreement that it entered into with the Union.”
If 99 members of the union are indeed laid off, it would be a large portion of the network’s employees inside that organization. When the contract between the network and the union was enacted, it featured nearly 300 employees under the MSNBC Union banner.
MSNBC has stated that employees who will be let go can reapply for their jobs to remain with the outlet.
The changes at the network come as new President Rebecca Kutler takes the reins from Rashida Jones. Jones, who led the organization since 2020, announced her departure earlier this year. Kutler was subsequently named interim President before the network made her appointment permanent. She joined in 2022 after spending the bulk of her career with CNN.
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