By Helen Coster
(Reuters) – Dow Jones, a division of News Corp that includes the financial news outlets the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch, plans to lay off a number of employees today, according to IAPE, the union representing unionized Dow Jones employees.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones did not immediately respond to questions about the layoff plans.
In a statement on the IAPE website, the union said that it does not currently know the total number of jobs, working locations and departments of affected employees.
The layoffs appear to be global, with employees outside the United States also receiving invitations to layoff meetings, IAPE wrote.
In an email on Wednesday, the IAPE’s location directors for the Southeast United States told union-represented Dow Jones employees in Washington, D.C. that while Dow Jones has not yet made clear the extent of layoffs, their understanding is that no cuts in the Wall Street Journal news department, in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere, are included in this round.
The news of expected layoffs at Dow Jones comes amid planned cuts at other outlets, including the Washington Post.
The news industry announced 1,800 job cuts last year, up 20% from 1,500 in 2021, according to a January report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In December News Corp named Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker the new editor of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. Tucker will begin her new role on Feb. 1.
Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters Corp, competes with Dow Jones.
(Reporting by Helen Coster; Editing by Sandra Maler)
