Vox Media to lay off about 72 employees as advertising revenue slumps amid coronavirus quarantines

Vox Media to lay off about 72 employees as advertising revenue slumps amid coronavirus quarantines

Jim Bankoff, chairman and chief executive officer of Vox Media Inc.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Vox Media is laying off 6% of its staff, or about 72 employees, as advertising revenue declined amid coronavirus quarantines.

The majority of those laid off were furloughed by the company earlier this year, Chief Executive Jim Bankoff said in an e-mail to employees obtained by CNBC. Vox is eliminating roles that have "experienced substantial changes in workload or business priority; in some cases they are in areas undergoing a strategic shift accelerated by the crisis and its hastened changes to our industry." 

Some other non-furloughed employees will be affected too, Bankoff said. Vox is bringing back about 30% of the employees it furloughed in the spring. CNBC reported on the impending layoffs earlier this week.

While Vox hit its revenue targets for the first two months of 2020, Vox was 40% off its forecast for the second quarter and plans to miss its full-year target by 25%, said two of the people, CNBC reported.

Media companies across the U.S. have had to cut salary and staff during the coronavirus pandemic to make up for lost advertising revenue. Vox avoided layoffs earlier this year with pay cuts and furloughs. Vox