Washington Post layoffs 2025: Report: Washington Post bleeds over $100M in 2025, forcing widespread layoffs
The newspaper was owned by Jeff Bezos, and even though he had many employees, the company was still losing money. As the NY Post notes, WaPo, like many legacy newspapers, is struggling as website traffic declines and people now get their news in different ways. A spokesman for the paper said the aim of the layoffs was to make the company stronger and focus on unique journalism.
Big money loss problem
The company declined to share exact revenue figures when asked. Acting CEO Jeff D’Onofrio took over after Will Lewis abruptly resigned just days after the layoffs. According to the WSJ, D’Onofrio and editor-in-chief Matt Murray told employees that the company had been overspending for years and productivity was declining. Expenses are higher than revenues from 2022 to 2025 because the company has previously hired many employees, executives said.
The number of stories the newspaper publishes is down 42% from 2020, but newsroom costs are up 16% in 2025. More than 300 journalists were affected by the layoffs, and Murray said it was a very painful time, as the WSJ noted. Murray also said the paper should not try to cover every breaking news story, but instead focus on unique and must-read journalism. D’Onofrio said he is working on a long-term plan to fix the company, but it will take time.
Staff anger and layoffs
The layoffs affected local, metro, international teams and the entire sports table, although staff asked Bezos to stop the cuts. Many employees were angry with Bezos after the newspaper rescinded its endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024. This decision caused many readers to cancel subscriptions, which damaged the newspaper’s financial situation.
Bezos later announced a new idea strategy focused on free markets and civil liberties following the re-election of Donald Trump. Because of this change, opinion editor David Shipley and several columnists left the newspaper. The company had made a buyout offer to staff in mid-2025, but the latest layoffs indicate stronger cost cuts are underway, according to the NY Post report. The problems at WaPo reflect a larger crisis, as CBS News and the New York Daily News also recently made layoffs. The Washington Post is losing huge amounts of money, laying off many jobs, facing staff ire, and trying to change its strategy for survival in the modern news world.
FAQ
Q1. Why is the Washington Post losing money in 2025?The Washington Post is losing money due to declining website traffic, low subscriptions, high newsroom costs and big expenses in past years, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Q2. How many employees were laid off at the Washington Post?
According to reports, approximately 30 percent of the staff, including more than 300 journalists, were laid off due to heavy financial losses.
