Sirius XM It is the latest media company to announce a round of layoffs
The subscription car radio company, known for its free music channels and talk radio, said Monday it would cut 8% of its workforce, or 475 jobs.
“We are entering a new phase for our company,” CEO Jennifer Weitz said in an email to employees Monday. “The investments we’re making in the business this year, coupled with today’s uncertain economic environment, requires us to think differently about how we structure our organization.”
SiriusXM shares hit a 52-week low on Monday.
In November, the CEO told the company that as part of its plans for 2023 there would be a review of the company. The company has also reduced content and marketing spending, reduced its impact on real estate, and placed tighter limits on travel and entertainment expenses, Weitz said in the memo Monday.
“However, today’s decision to reduce our workforce was necessary in order to maintain a sustainably profitable company,” Weitz said.
Layoffs have occurred across the media and tech industry in recent months as companies grapple with macroeconomic challenges and prepare for a potential recession.
SiriusXM, which is backed by John Malone’s Liberty Media, has been particularly affected by declining car sales, as satellite radio subscriptions often come with new cars. The company said it had 32.4 million subscribers at the end of 2022, but it ended the fourth quarter at 6.8 million beta subscribers, down about 224,000 subscribers from the previous quarter.
However, the monthly rate for customers who cut their subscriptions was 1.5% during the quarter, remaining “at record low levels.”
Read the full note here:
from: Jennifer Weitz
date: Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 7:58 am
Theme: Important company update
Good morning,
I have some hard news to share. After reviewing our business, we made the decision to reduce the size of our workforce by $475, or 8%. Unfortunately, this means saying goodbye to talented colleagues across the organization.
Throughout the day, affected employees will begin receiving invitations to join meetings with their leaders and a member of the People + Culture team.
I want to acknowledge that this will be a challenging day, especially for those leaving the company, and I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone for their contributions to SiriusXM. No matter the team, level or position, you have played a part in getting our company to where it is today and we are grateful for that. This wasn’t an easy decision, and we didn’t take it lightly. However, it is critical for us to take the right steps now to secure the long-term health and profitability of our business.
How did we get here?
We are entering a new phase for our company. The investments we’re making in the business this year, coupled with today’s uncertain economic environment, requires that we think differently about how we structure our organization. As I shared in November, the planning process for 2023 included an enterprise-wide review of our business to identify opportunities for greater flexibility and efficiency. As part of this effort, we’ve identified areas where we can reduce discretionary spending to reduce the impact of any additional headcount needs. We’ve streamlined our non-headcount costs by reducing spend on content and marketing, reducing our real estate footprint, and most recently, implementing tougher restrictions in our travel and leisure policy. However, today’s decision to downsize our workforce was necessary in order to maintain a sustainably profitable company.
Who is affected?
Over the past five years, our business has grown and expanded with the addition of new acquisitions, lines of business and revenue streams. Now, we’ve completed an assessment of our departments and functions to determine where we can improve collaboration, integrate teams to achieve greater efficiencies, and ultimately, design an organizational structure best positioned to deliver on our priorities. As a result, nearly every department across SiriusXM will be affected. We believe the new operating design will allow us to move faster and more efficiently as we take on new challenges across our business.
What then?
For those leaving us, you will be contacted directly about your departure, and given the opportunity to speak with a leader from your department as well as a member of the People + Culture team. We understand this transition will not be easy, but please know that we are committed to supporting you through the process, offering exit packages that include severance, transitional health insurance benefits, continuation of our employee advocacy program and outsourcing services.
Today is one of the most difficult days that we have had to face as a team, and these changes deeply affect each of us. However, I believe these tough decisions were necessary and we look forward to seizing the opportunity in front of us.
Together, we are committed to providing the best premium audio experience in North America. We are evolving our service to give the next generation of listeners new ways to discover and interact with our amazing talent and programming. With our vision clearer than ever, and the operational transformation now underway, we will continue to make investments as we prepare for our next major milestone: the launch of the new best-in-class SiriusXM experience.
Again, to those affected by these changes, I thank you for all you’ve done to bring SiriusXM to where it is today, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
We’ll discuss these changes and our way forward at our next All Hands companywide meeting. In the meantime, I’ll be in touch later today to share an update and you’ll also hear more details from the relevant executive leaders throughout the remainder of this week.
In conclusion, I thank you for your focus, dedication and flexibility. This is not an easy moment for either of us, so it’s more important than ever that we support each other, and count on our leaders, myself included, as we work through the next steps.
– Jennifer
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