Buzzfeed ($PRIVATE:BUZZFEED) made the news at the beginning of 2019, but not by breaking a news story or releasing a viral video. Instead, it caught our attention when it laid off 15% of its workforce. The aftermath was ugly: a shrinking workforce and tumbling employee morale. Meanwhile, remaining Buzzfeed employees are struggling to get an editorial union recognized by higher ups who don't appear interested in a unionized future.
But those same higher ups appear to be plodding forward now that layoffs and other executive shuffles are behind them. Since February 13, job openings at Buzzfeed have skyrocketed from a low of 25 to 77 as of this week.
That's a headcount growth of 208%, and it's the first sign that Buzzfeed has its new move-forward strategy in place after having shucked the employees that were no longer part of its future.
The new job listing run the gamut of company hierarchy, from project-based editors and Business-Operations interns to a VP of Strategic Business and Corporate Development. In all, the new listings paint a more sober future for Buzzfeed, one that relies on quantitative measurement and planning along with a focused eye on revenue.
That doesn't mean Buzzfeed isn't hiring creatives. Of the 77 openings, 12 are tagged as "Editorial", behind only "Sales" with 16 open headcounts.
|
Buzzfeed Job Category |
Openings (as of 4/14/19) |
|---|---|
|
Sales |
16 |
|
Editorial |
12 |
|
Accounting & Finance |
5 |
|
Media Planning |
4 |
|
Operations |
4 |
|
Branded |
4 |
|
People Team |
4 |
|
Marketing |
4 |
|
Client Services |
3 |
|
Information Technology |
3 |
|
BuzzFeed News |
3 |
|
Publishing |
3 |
|
Ad Operations |
3 |
|
Legal |
2 |
|
Business Operations & Strategy |
2 |
|
Studio |
2 |
|
Join The BuzzFeed Talent Community |
1 |
|
Public Relations |
1 |
|
Research |
1 |
This breakdown by category shows that the company is busy hiring across the board, from legal and operations positions to marketing and editorial. That's a good sign for the company's future.
But Buzzfeed isn't out of the woods just yet. Union issues aside, the company's workforce size appears to still be contracting in the shadow of layoffs and likely unreported attrition via resignations and quiet layoffs.
Data tracked via LinkedIn shows that the number of people who list Buzzfeed as an employer has continued to drop since the January layoffs. It's likely this trend will reverse as long as the company continues to hire.