Layoffs At Condé Nast's Wired.com
People are being called into a meeting at SF office and told they are being let go. People being told that "unexpected cutbacks" require pink slipping writers, editors.
"Unexpected" sounds right. Condé acquired tech blog Ars Technica for around $25 million in May.
Update: An unconfirmed tipster tells us it was a 30% cut at CondéNet. An employee source tells us seven staff members and "many more freelancers" were let go.
Update: MediaMemo's Peter Kafka reports the cuts are across CondéNet, not just Wired.com:
A person familiar with the situation tells me that the CondeNet took longer to make its cuts because it hadn’t gotten a grip on 2008 sales and 2009 projections. Now it has: The unit won’t hit its internal goal of 35% revenue growth for 2008, but should still “outperform the market”, I’m told (what I’m not told — whether that means the broader market for Web ads, display ads only, etc). Next year, the company expects to a “modest” increase in revenue — likely something in high single or low double-digits.
Actually, Condenet acquired Ars, not Conde Nast. Also Ars reports into Wired Digital for sales. Ars editorial reports into S. Chubb at Condenet.