NPR will be downsizing its workforce by at least 100 roles as ad revenue drops

CEO John Lansing of NPR announced that the network would be laying off around 10% of its current workforce to cope with the lowered advertising dollars for NPR podcasts. The radio network won’t be stopping there to deal with the tough financial outlook for the media sector. The company also has plans to eliminate most of its vacant roles.

CEO Lansing laments the loss of his trusted colleagues in a staff memo. He understands that eliminating filled positions means that they will be letting go of their colleagues who have helped make NPR what it is today with their skills, spirits, and talents. Lansing says that the revenues will most likely fall short by $30 million for the network on an annual budget of roughly $300 million.

Lansing does not believe that they see signs of recovery in the advertising market. NPR has doubled its programming division since 2019. This team produces industry-leading podcasts, which will not take a backseat in the future as well. Lansing still supports podcasts as well as the network's news magazines, Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

The new job cuts would be spread evenly across the company, although who will be affected by them is not defined yet. The management’s decision to lay off employees would be a tough, yet strategic one. The organization is committed to ensuring that the job cuts do not fall disproportionately on people of color at NPR. The final decision on who will get the cut will be taken by the week of March 20.

NPR’s advertising takes the form of underwriting, through which the company earned $134 million last year. However, the tepid economy had the corporate team at NPR predicting that the revenue for the fiscal year that began October 1 would remain flat. Last November, the company announced $20 million in cuts, a hiring freeze, the elimination of most travel, and the suspension of internships.

Even these measures proved to be overly optimistic as the year continued. NPR was doing everything it could to control costs but the revenue kept slipping. The economic landscape for media and entertainment companies has been pretty rugged over the past few months and NPR wasn’t the only media network to let go of employees to manage costs.

Vox Media reduced its headcount by 7% while Gannett and Spotify announced a 6% job reduction. The Washington Post eliminated the Sunday magazine and let go of a handful of other employees. CNN too cut off hundreds of jobs.

Tech companies that relied on advertising revenue are also undergoing layoffs. Combined, Amazon, Google, Twitter, Meta, and Microsoft have let go of over 50,000 tech employees in the past few months.