Layoffs happening and likely to hit hundreds: CNN to employees

CNN on Wednesday informed employees that layoffs had commenced, a move that is expected to impact hundreds of staffers at the global news network and mark the deepest cuts to the organization in years.
 

Chris Licht, who took over as chief executive of the network in May, described the cuts in an all-staff memo as a “gut punch” to the organization and told employees that “it is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many.”
 

Employees at the company had been anxiously bracing for the layoffs since Licht informed them last month that “unsettling” changes lie ahead.
 

Licht said that on Wednesday the company would notify a “limited number of individuals,” largely paid contributors, that they have been let go. He said the company “will notify impacted employees” on Thursday. Licht said at the conclusion of the cuts he will “follow up with more details.”
 

“It will be a difficult time for everyone,” Licht candidly said in his memo.

CNN declined to say on Wednesday how many employees precisely would be impacted by the layoffs.