The Associated Press announced on Monday that it plans to reduce its workforce by 8% through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.
In an internal email obtained by the Guardian, AP’s president, Daisy Veerasingham, informed staff that adapting to industry challenges requires “making some difficult changes so we can invest more fully in our future”.
“We all know this is a time of transformation in the media sector,” the email said. “Our customers – both who they are and what they need from us – are changing rapidly.
“This is why we’ve focused on delivering a digital-first news report. We now need to accelerate on this path.”
The email continued: “As we modernize our products and operations, we will eliminate some positions across the organization.”
Veerasingham said that the changes will affect about 8% of the company’s workforce. Fewer than half of those changes should affect the news division, Veerasingham said.
The not-for-profit news agency said that it would offer a voluntary separation plan to a small number of eligible staff, based on their departments, roles and length of employment – in addition to eliminating certain positions throughout the organization.
According to the Wrap, the AP is approaching 121 eligible employees with buyout offers.
“I know this is difficult news, and there will be a period of uncertainty as we work through these changes,” the email sent to AP employees reads. “We are communicating about these actions now because transparency is a core value of this organization. The AP leadership team is committed to supporting our affected colleagues and working quickly and thoroughly to limit uncertainty as much as possible.”
Veerasingham added: “Evolving as an organization is not easy but it is necessary.”
The email said that employees who are losing their jobs because of the staff reductions would be notified over the next few weeks.
In a statement on Monday, the AP told the New York Times that the cuts were part of a plan to meet “the evolving needs of our customers”. That statement also said: “This is about ensuring AP’s important role as the only truly independent news organization at scale during a period of transformation in the media industry.”