The furloughs, which will run from May 1 to July 31, affect multiple departments including sales, events, production, IT, operations and editorial. Vox Media currently employs about 1,200 people, resulting in about 100 people facing three-month furloughs. In addition, about 1% of the company's personnel will have reduced hours for the same time period. Vox Media will continue to cover the health benefits of those affected.
"Everyone will feel the effect of the cost measures to some degree, but some considerably more than others. It's our goal to treat those whose job status is impacted with the greatest possible care and support," Bankoff said. Bankoff said he and president Pam Wasserstein will take 50% pay reductions. Vox Media will also implement a tiered salary reduction. Staffers making $130,000 to $200,000 will see their pay reduced by 15% while those whose salaries are more than $200,000 will have a 25% pay reduction. The company also will suspend 401K matching for all employees through the rest of this year.
Bankoff said Vox missed its"revenue goals by several million dollars in the first quarter" citing factors such as the"cancellations of SXSW and March Madness, the collapse of travel, sports and fashion-related advertising."Vox Media reported a profit last year. In September, the company acquired New York Media, which includes the namesake biweekly print magazine and the websites The Cut, Grub Street, Intelligencer, The Strategist and Vulture.