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# How BuzzFeed UK handles its redundancies will tell us a lot about the future of the business
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2017/12/buzzfeed-uk-redundancies/
- Published: 2017-12-08T11:04:56.000Z
- Updated: 2017-12-08T11:06:55.000Z
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: business strategy, Buzzfeed, management, publishing strategy

[BuzzFeed UK to make *45* staff redundant](http://uk.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-uk-to-make-45-staff-redundant-2017-12?r=US&IR=T&ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

> The website’s London workforce was briefed on the plans on Thursday evening. In a tweet later confirmed by the company, media and politics reporter Mark Di Stefano said 45 of the bureau’s 140 editorial and commercial staff will lose their jobs.

That’s quite a leap from the 20 originally mooted:

> Editor Ben Smith says 20 staff will be let go in London.
> 
> — Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) [November 29, 2017](https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/935908015450009601?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

It also indicated that the UK operation is being disproportionally hit by the cuts.

Just under a third of BuzzFeed’s UK workforce will be gone at the end of this process. That creates not only a difficult time for all the staff, facing employment uncertainty over Christmas, but also a serious hit to morale, as the remaining staff come back to a depleted office with many of their friends gone.

What’s triggered such an alarming slash and burn?

> \[…\] Comscore data reveals a 20% decline in BuzzFeed UK’s unique users over the past two years.

And filing show growing revenue being [eaten away at by growing costs](http://uk.businessinsider.com/buzzfeeds-uk-investment-revealed-2017-10?ref=onemanandhisblog.com).

In short, we’re seeing management failure ina growing business. And that, in turns, means watching who goes will be a very interesting insight into the long-term management health of the business. A dynamic like this *should* lead to some senior management losses, as the need for the layoffs is clearly a manifestation of poor decision making at the higher levels.

If we see a layoff of purely front-line journalist and business staff, then Buzzfeed UK has two fundamental problems:

1. A lack of management accountability for bad business decisions
2. An increasingly top-heavy business, with associated cost overheads

It would also impact morale even further. “Hey, we’re generating ever more revenue, but because management screwed up costs management, a bunch of you are going to lose your income.” It does not inspire confidence.

Let’s hope we *don’t* see that, as it would raise very serious questions about the long-term viability of both BuzzFeed UK and of corporate management at the company.