• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 10, 2023

Layoffs have spiked in the media industry this year, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

In the year to date, the media business has suffered 20,324 job cuts, the highest since 2020. However, it has improved on that year in which 30,211 layoffs were announced.

The news subset, which covers the broadcast, digital and print channels, experienced 2,681 staff reductions, versus 1,808 in 2022 and 1,511 in 2021. 

The job market and unemployment rate have seen overall improvements. But this year to date, companies have announced plans to eliminate 686,860 jobs, a 115% increase over the 310,173 reported last year, the report states. 

It’s not clear if the number for media and news includes voluntary buyouts as well as layoffs. 

Washington Post columnist John Kelly was among staffers who received an email, saying, “You are Eligible for the Voluntary Separation Package” in October, after the Post announced it is eliminating 240 positions. (Kelly took the offer), Kelly wrote in a column. 

Condé Nast also announced 240 reductions this fall, although these seem to be layoffs. 

But in terms of sheer numbers, the media industry was dwarfed by the technology sector, which experienced 163,562 cuts, including 5,049 in November. The overall increase was 102% YoY. 

Next were the HealthCare/Products industry (57,758 losses through November) and financial firms (50,792). Manufacturing suffered 48,991, a 352% hike. 

Also suffering were workers in the retail vertical, which saw job losses of 6,548 in November and 78,730 for the year to date. 

As for job creation, the Challenge report states that overall hiring plans are the lowest since they have been since 2015. 

However, on Friday the U.S. Labor Department reported that 199,000 jobs were added last month overall, and that the unemployment rate fell to 3.7% from 3.9%. The increase includes autoworkers and actors who returned after strikes, the New York Times reports.