People Inc. Cuts 195 Jobs, Mostly in Print and Legacy Web

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In its second major round of layoffs this year, People Inc. is cutting 195 staffers, primarily in its print and website departments, according to a Thursday memo from CEO Neil Vogel. The publisher, known as IAC until a rebrand this year, owns People, InStyle, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Southern Living and Entertainment Weekly. It also holds significant minority stakes in MGM Resorts and the car rental marketplace Turo.

"The vast majority of those affected today are in our print and legacy web businesses, as we continue to evolve for a prosperous future," Vogel wrote. He said the company has significantly increased investments in a host of new projects. At its latest 10-K filing last December, People Inc. had 5,156 employees.

Vogel added that the company has taken on 320 new employees this year and plans "to continue making meaningful investments in 2027." An all-hands meeting on the company's path forward is planned after People Inc. reports quarterly earnings on November 3.

A restructuring announced in April

When IAC formally rebranded as People Inc. in April, a regulatory filing said it would restructure, including staff layoffs, to reach annual savings of $40 million.

Vogel has also described a shift away from dependence on Google traffic. At a Goldman Sachs investor conference in September he said "the Google risk is out of the business," with Google accounting for 20 percent of the company's web audience alone.

He put the number of print subscribers across all titles at 11 million and said the company plans member-based add-ons such as People VIP and a club for Southern Living. "We make more content than anybody in our space by magnitudes. It is all made by people. Now we use AI to help processes," he said.

MGM talks end

The layoffs follow by a day the apparent end of tie-up talks with MGM Resorts. People Inc. had pursued an $18 billion takeover bid in June and dropped it in September. MGM then appeared to be pursuing People Inc. A new voting agreement bars People Inc. from buying more MGM shares once its stake reaches 29.9 percent.

"The discussion between MGM and People ends there," MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said on an analyst call Wednesday.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter