Business Insider to Slash 21% of Staff in Shift Toward AI and Live Events; Union Slams Layoffs as ‘Pivot Away From Journalism Toward Greed’

Business Insider is making significant layoffs — cutting 21% of staffers across the board — as the Axel Springer-owned digital-media outlet pulls back in some areas and beefs up its live events business and the use of AI.

CEO Barbara Peng announced the layoffs, BI’s third major round in three years, in a memo Thursday. “We are reducing the size of our organization, a move that will impact about 21% of our colleagues and touch every department,” she wrote. Business Insider is “scaling back on categories that once performed well on other platforms but no longer drive meaningful readership or aren’t areas where we can lead.”

The Insider Union, affiliated with NewsGuild of New York, said the layoffs announced Thursday “is another example of [parent company] Axel Springer’s brazen pivot away from journalism toward greed.”

“We were notified that Business Insider management intends to lay off about 20 percent of our members as part of their ongoing ‘strategy’ to ‘build toward something new,'” the union said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: This is far from anything new. This is the third round of layoffs in as many years and it is unacceptable that union members and other talented coworkers are again paying the price for the strategic failures of Business Insider’s leadership.”

Founded in 2007 by former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget, Business Insider was acquired in 2015 by Axel Springer, one of Europe’s largest digital publishing and media conglomerates, for $343 million.

According to Peng, Business Insider’s “most loyal readers subscribe, engage and consistently return for specific coverage,” although she did not specify what that is. The publication is “doubling down on those areas with expanded reporting and key hires,” she added. However, 70% of the business has “some degree of traffic sensitivity,” and Business Insider “must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control,” she wrote.

Business Insider is also shutting down “the majority” of its e-commerce business “given its reliance on search” while maintaining “a few high-performing verticals,” according to Peng. Meanwhile, the publication is expanding the BI Live events business, which is “a space where we can showcase our journalism, connect directly with our audience, and build a strong portfolio of experiences,” she wrote.

As part of the restructuring, Business Insider is “going all-in on AI,” Peng said. “In the past year, we’ve launched multiple AI-driven products to better serve our audience — from gen-AI onsite search to our AI-powered paywall — with new products set to launch in the coming months,” the CEO wrote. Business Insider is also “exploring how AI can boost operations across shared services, helping us scale and operate more efficiently.”

The Insider Union called Peng’s touting the use of AI in the Business Insider newsroom “tone deaf.” “To say this was tone-deaf to include in an email on layoffs would be an understatement,” the union’s statement said. “Our position as a union is that no Al tool or technology should or can take the place of human beings.”

The latest cuts come after Business Insider pink-slipped 8% of its employees early last year and 10% in April 2023.

Read Peng’s full memo to staff about the changes:

Team,

Today we’re making significant organizational changes that are part of the strategy we set in motion a year and a half ago: to be the essential source of business, tech, and innovation journalism for an audience determined to succeed and unafraid to challenge convention to do it.

Since returning to our roots as Business Insider, we’ve been building toward something new. This kind of transformation takes time — and it requires tough decisions along the way.

What happens today

We are reducing the size of our organization, a move that will impact about 21% of our colleagues and touch every department.

This will be a difficult day, and our first priority is to provide clarity and support to those colleagues whose roles are being eliminated.

If your role is impacted, you will receive an email from the People & Culture team in the next 15 minutes. The email will include details for a meeting today in which a member of our P&C team will walk you through next steps and answer any questions. You will only receive an email if your role is affected.

We’re also proposing changes that impact our UK team, but the process is a bit different there; separate communication will follow from Claire Shelton.

While today’s changes are what we must do to build the most enduring Business Insider, it doesn’t make them any easier. We are fortunate to have built a company filled with thoughtful, kind, and creative people around the world, and we deeply appreciate the positive impact they have made within the company and on our readers, clients, and partners.

The changes we’re making today and why

Eighteen months ago we announced our new strategy: We went back to Business Insider and focused on delivering best-in-class business, tech, and innovation journalism to a smart, specific audience. That kicked off the beginning of our transformation from Insider — with its broad approach and appeal — to a more focused Business Insider.

Since Jamie Heller joined as EIC at the end of last year, we’ve made great progress — we’ve sharpened our standards and are shifting towards more reporting that is authoritative and matters deeply to the people who read it. We’ve doubled the amount of original reporting we publish and have substantially increased engagement in the past months.

This is a new Business Insider. It’s more focused. It’s intentional. And it’s working.

More broadly though, the media industry is at a crossroads. Business models are under pressure, distribution is unstable, and competition for attention is fiercer than ever. At the same time, there’s a huge opportunity for companies who harness AI first. Our strategy is strong, but we don’t have the luxury of time. The pace of change combined with the opportunity ahead demands bold, focused action — and it’s our chance to lead the pack.

Here’s what’s changing today:

1. We’re aligning our coverage to match our strategic focus.

We’re focusing where we can deliver unique, lasting value and serve our audience in ways only Business Insider can.

As Insider, we cast a wide net, covering a broad range of topics. Some of those still align with our strategy — stories that spotlight the smart moves (and mistakes!) people make as they actually experience the world.

At the same time, we’re scaling back on categories that once performed well on other platforms but no longer drive meaningful readership or aren’t areas where we can lead.

Our most loyal readers subscribe, engage, and consistently return for specific coverage — and we’re doubling down on those areas with expanded reporting and key hires.

2. We’re launching events and reducing our reliance on traffic-sensitive businesses.

We’re at the start of a major shift in how people find and consume information, which is driving ongoing volatility in traffic and distribution for all publishers. The impact on our industry has been profound, with many publications shuttering in recent years.

Our business is diversified, which has helped insulate us. We’ve also significantly improved how we monetize traffic — each visit to our site now generates twice as much revenue as it did just two years ago.

Still, 70% of our business has some degree of traffic sensitivity. We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we’re reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility.

We’re also exiting the majority of our Commerce business, given its reliance on search, and maintaining a few high performing verticals.

We’re launching and investing in BI Live, our new live journalism events business. It’s a space where we can showcase our journalism, connect directly with our audience, and build a strong portfolio of experiences. We’ve already seen demand, brought on key leaders, and will continue to build the team.

3. Finally, we are fully embracing AI.

As we shared during our April All-Hands, we are going all-in on AI — and we’re off to a strong start.

Over 70% of Business Insider employees are already using Enterprise ChatGPT regularly (our goal is 100%), and we’re building prompt libraries and sharing everyday use cases that help us work faster, smarter, and better.

In the past year, we’ve launched multiple AI-driven products to better serve our audience — from gen-AI onsite search to our AI-powered paywall — with new products set to launch in the coming months. We’re also exploring how AI can boost operations across shared services, helping us scale and operate more efficiently.

Change like this isn’t easy. But Business Insider was born in a time of disruption — when the smartphone was reshaping how people consumed news. We thrived by taking risks and building something new.

We’re at that moment again. It calls for bold experimentation, openness to change, and a willingness to lead.

Among all publications, we are uniquely positioned to do just that.

What’s next

I know this is a lot to absorb and it will take time to process. We’ll come together during the All-Hands today at 11:30AM ET and leaders will be hosting team meetings to answer your questions.

To those affected today, we are grateful to you for helping build Business Insider and for being wonderful colleagues. Your work has made an impact and we appreciate you.

Please support each other today and as we move through the coming days and weeks. While this change is extraordinarily difficult and will test us in many ways, it is a moment I know we’ll be able to meet. Thank you all for your resilience, as ever.

Barbara