The Knot Worldwide slashed about 4% of its global workforce this week as part of an internal restructuring at the wedding planning giant, The Post has learned.
Approximately 100 employees were laid off across The Knot’s sales and marketing teams, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company began informing impacted workers on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for The Knot confirmed the job cuts and said the move was part of an effort to shift resources to key business priorities such as helping the wedding industry’s vendor community, rather than a sign of financial trouble at the closely-held firm.
“Over the past several months, we have taken meaningful steps to better understand customer needs and thoroughly evaluate our business,” the spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “It has become clear we need to innovate with even greater velocity to drive increased value for our users, vendors and partners.”
“As a result, we are making proactive changes in our Sales and Marketing departments to better align our operating model to the small businesses we serve,” the spokesperson added.
The layoffs occurred as The Knot – whose network of businesses include WeddingWire, WeddingPro, Hitched and The Bump, among others – tries to repair its relationship with disgruntled vendors following allegations last year that it used shady sales practices to secure ad dollars from businesses that lack alternatives for advertising their services, as The Post reported.
Impacted workers received separation packages and access to outplacement services, according to the company.
“While we recognize change can be challenging, we believe this transformation will unlock new opportunities to elevate our platform and enhance the benefits we provide to our users, vendors, and partners,” the spokesperson said.
The Knot is planning to roll out a number of new products for users and local mom-and-pop wedding vendors, including the launch of a free and low-cost advertising tiers for small business owners by the first quarter of 2025, the spokesperson added.
Last month, The Knot Worldwide unveiled a revamped platform for vendors such as cake-bakers, officiants photographers and videographers.
The company touted upgrades such as “AI-powered storefront enhancements” that help select photos and generate text summaries that the small business owners can use to attract users.
It remains to be seen if the upgrades will satisfy the wedding industry pros that make up a large chunk of its business.
As The Post exclusively reported last month, The Knot’s quiet acquisition of small-wedding booking platform Simply Eloped earlier this year stoked concerns among some business owners that the controversial firm is seizing too much control over the wedding planning industry.
“They are trying to buy up as much of our industry as they can,” one concerned wedding industry consultant and former Knot advertiser said at the time. “It seems they want to control the narrative and that is always a scary feeling.”
Credit: Source link
