In another blow to digital media, Vice will lay off 10% of its global workforce as it attempts to achieve profitability in an uncertain advertising market.
The cuts will impact around 250 jobs and form part of new CEO Nancy Dubuc's "strategic restructure" that will see the business focus on growth areas like film, television production and branded content.
All departments at every level are expected to have layoffs, from IT to finance to television, reports the Hollywood Reporter. It's not yet clear how the cuts will impact the Australian arm of Vice.
While employees affected in the US, UK and Canada are thought to have been notified about job cuts last week, the remainder of the global cuts will take place over the coming weeks.
The news completes a brutal first quarter for digital media companies with BuzzFeed and HuffPost also hit by redundancy rounds as they struggle to compete with Facebook and Google.
Dubuc, the former A+E Networks (TV broadcasting company) chief, became CEO of Vice at the end of May, taking over for the company's founder Shane Smith who announced in March that he would step back into the role of executive chairman.
She joined following a time of turmoil at Vice with former employees coming forward with allegations of a toxic atmosphere at the company and high-level staffers were accused of sexual misconduct.
In an all-staff email, Dubuc said Vice needed to “operate more nimbly, focusing our energies and investments on core strengths”.
"To this end, we’ve had to make hard but necessary operating decisions. Starting today, the next phase of our plan begins as we reorganise our global workforce. Unfortunately, this means we will have to say goodbye to some of our Vice colleagues," she said.
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