Wired.com trims editorial staff by 10 percent
Wired.com, the Internet arm of stalwart tech pub Wired magazine, has cut its staff by 10 percent and an unknown number of employees outside of editorial also were laid off, according to sources close to the company.
Wired.com has laid off three of its 28 employees, but the publication's staff writers were unaffected.
(Credit: Wired.com)Out of 28 editorial positions, 3 employees were laid off, according to the sources. In an interview with CNET News, Evan Hansen, Wired.com's editor in chief, said the company downsized to prepare for the economic downturn.
"Revenues are expected to be up year over year but not as much as we expected," Hansen said. "We're concerned about 2009 because visibility is murky. We're taking steps to make sure we're in good position."
Hansen declined to discuss who was let go, but sources familiar with the situation said none of the publication's staff writers was cut. This is only the latest reduction of editorial staffing for Wired.com's publisher, Conde Nast.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Conde Nast was preparing to reduce company-wide budgets by 5 percent. The plan called for reducing the number of issues for magazines such as Portfolio and Men's Vogue and folding some of Portfolio's divisions into Wired magazine. The Times story said that most of the job cuts would come at Portfolio and Men's Vogue.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
