PopSugar Lays Off 19 People, Plans to Keep Remaining Staff Highly Caffeinated

by Charles Manning

Layoffs hit the staff at PopSugar hard today. “We made the hard decision today to say goodbye to 19 people, roughly 5 percent of our team,” a spokeswoman for the company told The Hollywood Reporter. “This was done to achieve profitability.”

The layoffs are the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures taken by the company recently. On April 30, co-founder and EVP of culture and corporate citizenship, Krista Moatz, emailed staffers about “temporary” cuts to the company’s snack and beverage options. In the email, she revealed that the company spends roughly $480,000 on snacks, breakfasts, lunches and happy hours annually.

“We will take a pause on providing snacks and most beverages in all of our offices,” Moatz wrote. “But we will continue to provide coffee, tea, various forms of milk for coffee, and filtered hot and cold water […] I truly believe that the amazing culture we have here at PopSugar is not a result of our perks, but is the result of all of you and the shared values that we all strive to embody each and every day.”

Said like a true executive with no real understanding or appreciation of just how hard their writers and editors work. I mean, come on! Coffee and tea are not “perks.” They are necessities. As are snacks and working meals when you expect your staff to put in the kind of hours our own sources say PopSugar does.

(Giphy)

It is also worth noting that the layoffs came the day after PopSugar staff went all-in covering the Met Gala late into the night. Seriously, PopSugar staffers probably produced more Met Gala content than all of Condé Nast combined in the last 24-hours (as a quick trip to their Met Gala landing page will attest). According to our sources, that level of output is common for live events of this nature (Oscars, Grammys, etc.) with staffers neither being paid overtime (one of the “perks” of a salary) or being given comp days.

But hey, at least they get to keep their coffee! Lord knows the remaining staffers will need it when it comes time for them to absorb the responsibilities of their laid-off peers.

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2 comments

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Rose May 8, 2018 - 10:22 PM

As a heads up the company previously laid off 5% of its staff in October of 2017. For some reason it wasn’t publicized as much as this one but the fact remains that they keep doing this (always preceded by a reduction of precious snax), round after round, and it’s def not a great sign!!

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Shana May 11, 2018 - 2:30 PM

Also, they shouldn’t make it seem like them keeping their basic ass coffee, tea and water is some sort of perk or rewards. Sad, some people might have really relied on those free snacks as replacements for breakfast or to munch on if they had to stay at work late and have their dinners delayed. With the cost of living in the city, thats probably the case for a lot of people.

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