Washington Post implements layoffs as flagging publisher struggles to achieve profitability

The Washington Post is implementing a round of layoffs, eliminating a quarter of its standalone software unit as the paper struggles to turn around its failing business model.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the layoffs are hyper-focused on staffers working on Arc XP, the Post’s in-house publishing tool also used by outside media and non-media businesses, including Reuters, The Boston Globe, BP and the Golden State Warriors.

The layoffs are set to impact roughly 54 full-time staffers. 

In a memo obtained by the Journal, Arc XP president Matt Monahan told staffers, “To continue this leadership amidst a new wave of change within our industry requires us to act with urgency and think differently.”

The Washington Post is cutting roughly 54 staffers from its Arc XP software unit. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON POST STAFFERS GRUMBLING ABOUT ‘CHAOTIC AND TURBULENT PERIOD’ AT BEZOS PAPER AFTER FORCED BUYOUTS

“This decision will help us align to a plan for the future that is both ambitious and achievable,” he added.

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment. 

The layoffs come less than a year after the Post implemented buyouts in an attempt to prevent mass layoffs, resulting in roughly 240 staffers voluntarily leaving the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” paper. 

It was reported last year that the Jeff Bezos-owned paper was set to lose $100 million in 2023.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post for a whopping $250 million in 2013. ( SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this year, the Post’s new publisher and CEO William Lewis ruffled feathers in the newsroom when he offered a blunt message about how dire their financial situation was. 

“We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis told the paper. “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

WAPO BOSS SOUNDS ALARM OVER DWINDLING AUDIENCE IN HEATED STAFF MEETING: ‘PEOPLE ARE NOT READING YOUR STUFF’

Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis bluntly told staffers “People are not reading your stuff” when he joined the struggling paper earlier this year. (Elliott O’Donovan for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP