The year 2017 may be coming to an end soon, with a hopefully wonderful new year to look forward to. But it looks like 2017 is set to leave a bad taste in many workers' mouth, thanks to rampant layoffs. After ESPN, Siemens, and GE, staff members of Condé Nast are likely to be shown the doors.
The publisher is said to be planning to merge the fashion-market editors of its magazines Vanity Fair, Glamour, and W under a single department, which means the brand will cut quite a few jobs, the New York Post quoted its sources as saying. While it is not yet known which magazine will be worst hit, a few changes have already been made on each.
In 2018, Vanity Fair will reportedly continue publishing 12 issues but Glamour will only have 10 issues. In addition, W will have just eight issues next year, even though it has been said that it will be heavier. W had recently said that it would come out with 10 issues, but that has now been changed.
Meanwhile, some employees of the magazines have already been told about these changes. Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive reportedly told her staff about her so that they could prepare to look for another job, while Vanity Fair is likely to announce the shift once its new Editor-in-Chief Radhika Jones takes over on December 11, 2017.
Like other firms, Condé Nast too is trying to trim costs through these moves and it is not just these three magazines that are bearing the brunt. It was earlier reported that the publisher would no longer bring out the print edition of Teen Vogue and was also aiming to lay off about 80 staffers across the firm. However, it did say that it would plan special edition for the teen magazine that may come out as print issues.
It announced that the company will explore "reimagined special issues timed to specific moments" in the future. "Teen Vogue has experienced tremendous audience growth across its digital, social and video platforms this past year," Conde Nast said. "We are aggressively investing in the brand and all of its consumer touch-points, including events like the upcoming inaugural Teen Vogue Summit next month in Los Angeles," Variety quoted Condé Nast as saying.
Condé Nast is also trimming the budgets allotted to various divisions by about 20 percent, according to WWD. In addition, a few magazines will also see a reduction in the number of issues it brings out each year. While GQ, Glamour, Allure and Architectural Digest will now have 11 issues a year, Bon Appétit will have 10. Like W, Condé Nast Traveler will see eight issues.
However, the magazines that will not be affected by these changes are Vogue and Wired that have 12 issues a year, weekly New Yorker and Brides, which has six issues each year.
