Buzzfeed lays off 16% of its workforce, sells Complex

HuffPost parent company Buzzfeed said Wednesday that it is slashing 16% of its workforce — the latest in a wave of layoffs by financially-strapped media companies — and will sell music and culture-focused site Complex

The digital media company — once an advertising revenue juggernaut — said the cuts are “designed to reduce centralized costs and to allow the company to become more agile, sustainable, and profitable.”

Buzzfeed declined to comment on the total number of cuts.

It has fewer than 1,000 employees.

A source close to the New York-based company put the reduction at around 150 jobs. It is not clear how many of those cuts will hit HuffPost.

The culling comes roughly a year after Buzzfeed slashed staff by 15% and shuttered Buzzfeed News, a site known for an odd mix of listicles, viral cat videos and hard news.

It shifted news content to HuffPost, which it acquired in 2020.

The company said that it would sell Complex to the livestream shopping platform NTWRK for $108.6 million, plus $5.7 million earmarked for office and severance costs.

“The sale of Complex represents an important strategic step for BuzzFeed as we adapt our business to be more profitable, more nimble, and more innovative.” said BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti.

“This is also an opportunity to unlock greater value for the Complex brand by combining it with NTWRK’s expansive, commerce-driven business.”

Buzzfeed said it will use the cash from the Complex sale to pay down its debt obligations and reposition itself on stronger financial footing.

The company said the specific details of Wednesday’s restructuring would be revealed on Feb. 28, but it noted that it expects annualized cost savings of $23 million under the plan.

Chief financial officer Matt Omer warned investors that its fourth-quarter revenues will be down in the $73 to $78 million range compared with its financial outlook of $99 million to $110 million it anticipated in November.

He cited lower sponsorship revenues for the brand’s annual flagship event, ComplexCon, citing the depressed revenue on the fact that the asset was up for sale.

He also blamed the “challenges delivering against our bundled go-to-market strategy in a tighter digital advertising market.”

Buzzfeed’s cuts come as a host of publications from The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times to Forbes and Sports Illustrated have all been hit by layoffs.