Washington Post reporters blast paper's ‘unnecessary’ layoffs: ‘I'm sad and mad and so disappointed’

The Washington Post began laying off employees on Tuesday, making cuts that may not be as high as originally feared.

"The company is eliminating 20 positions and not filling another 30 vacancies," the Post reported about itself, adding that it was "a figure less extensive than many had expected."

A Washington Post insider told Fox News Digital that the job cuts so far seem to be less than expected, as publisher Fred Ryan said last month it would be a "single-digit percentage," which could have potentially meant hundreds of layoffs.

Post reporter Katie Mettler, who serves as the co-chair of the Post Guild union, blasted the layoffs as "unnecessary."

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"The Washington Post has started laying off my friends and colleagues. It's wrong and unnecessary and did not need to happen. I'm sad and mad and so disappointed in this institution that I care about so deeply. We're better than this," Mettler wrote. 

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Guild called the layoffs "unacceptable."

"We are still learning how many people will be impacted and whether there will be any effort to help them find new positions internally — which is the least the company could do at a time of continued growth and expansion," the Guild said. "While the number of people affected is reportedly far smaller than what Publisher Fred Ryan initially alluded to in his layoff announcement at last month’s town hall, we believe any job eliminations right now are unacceptable. The number should be zero."

The Guild added it had not received an explanation for the reasoning behind the cuts, saying they didn't appear to be "financially necessary or rooted in any coherent business plan from Fred Ryan."

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"The Post Guild has assembled a dedicated team of union leaders and stewards to help our colleagues navigate this difficult process today and through the coming weeks, including helping them find other jobs within the newsroom and securing the severance packages they deserve," the Guild said. "We’ll continue to hold the company accountable and fight these seemingly arbitrary terminations in every way we can."

Last week, the Post’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos was confronted directly by an angry staffer when he visited paper’s office with layoffs looming. 

Bezos' presence at the paper last week caused a buzz at the outlet as job cuts were expected to be announced in the coming days. An insider shared a conversation from the Washington Post Guild's Slack channel, where the unnamed staffer ran into Bezos and called out Ryan for not answering questions about the layoffs.

The employee, a union member, asked Bezos why the newspaper wasn't at least offering buyouts.

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Bezos told the employee he was there to listen and not take questions, adding, "I'm committed. Believe me, I'm committed." 

The Washington Post is coming off a tough year, with subscriber losses, prominent departures of key journalists, a social media fiasco ending in reporter Felicia Sonmez's firing and now layoffs amid widespread job losses in the media industry.

Ryan angered Guild members last month when he announced first-quarter 2023 job cuts at a meeting but then wouldn't take questions, usually a facet of so-called company "town halls." Ryan said he didn't want to have a "grievance session" with the union, adding he anticipated it would be single-digit percentage job losses.

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