SiriusXM to cut 8% of workforce, eliminating 475 jobs
By Jon Passantino
Satellite radio giant SiriusXM is laying off 475 people, or about 8% of its workforce, as part of a broad restructuring.
With the announcement Monday, SiriusXM becomes the latest media company to make painful cuts as advertisers tighten spending amid economic uncertainty.
The layoffs at the radio company — home to the Howard Stern Show and owner of the Pandora streaming music service — will impact “nearly every department across SiriusXM,” and are the result of the “uncertain economic environment,” CEO Jennifer Witz wrote in a memo to staff Monday. Employees affected by the layoffs will be notified today.
The announcement comes after the company said last month that it expects to see a modest decline in subscribers this year as “economic and demand uncertainty persists” and automakers contend with amid supply chain issues.
“We are entering into a new phase for our Company,” Witz wrote, with the economic climate “requir[ing] us to think differently about how our organization is structured.”
The company has been reviewing its cost structure since November, and it took steps like reducing spending on content and marketing, cutting its real estate footprint and tightening its employee travel, she said. Ultimately, however, the “decision to reduce our workforce was required in order for us to maintain a sustainably profitable company.”
Across the media industry, layoffs have been rampant in recent months, with companies including CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, Gannett and The Washington Post cutting their workforces. And media brands that haven’t laid off staffers have taken strong measures to reduce spending.
The advertising downturn has also hit the technology sector hard, with Google’s parent company Alphabet and other tech giants including Meta, Microsoft and Amazon cutting thousands of employees.
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CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this report.
