Washington Post to cut jobs, close desks
The Washington Post is facing significant layoffs, including desk closures and layoffs. Learn more about the impact of these changes.
The Washington Post’s newsroom suffered major layoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 4, resulting in hundreds of layoffs and the closure of multiple desks, including the sports and books teams, the Associated Press reported.
One-third of The Washington Post’s staff across all departments has been furloughed, according to the Associated Press. This includes members of the sports and books divisions, the number of international journalists will be reduced, and the Post Report podcast will also be discontinued. Changes will also occur in the paper’s Washington area news department and editorial staff, the paper reported.
Multiple media outlets reported that editor-in-chief Matt Murray announced the layoffs during a morning Zoom call with employees. Employees were asked to attend a company-wide meeting at 8:30 a.m. ET, and after the meeting, they would receive an email update on their work status.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, the Washington Post Guild said layoffs were inevitable and “we firmly oppose further layoffs.”
“Now is the time to stand in solidarity with our colleagues who have been made redundant and those who remain, who will be asked to do more with less,” the union said in a statement. “There’s still time to save the post.”
The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been cutting costs in recent years. The company offered voluntary separation packages to employees across all divisions in 2023 as losses hit $100 million, Reuters reported.
The layoffs come just before the 2026 Winter Olympics and follow a Jan. 29 letter from The Post’s White House staff to Bezos, Reuters reported, saying the Post’s most impactful reporting relies heavily on collaboration with teams at risk of layoffs and that a diverse newsroom is essential at a time when the paper faces financial challenges.
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In a statement to USA TODAY, the newspaper said the company is “taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today toward our company’s future, which amount to a major restructuring across the company.”
“These actions are designed to strengthen our foundation and focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, attracts our customers,” the statement said.
Contributed by: Reuters
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
