Sirius XM the latest media company to announce a series of layoffs
The car radio subscription company, known for its commercial-free music and talk radio channels, said Monday it is cutting 8% of its workforce, or 475 jobs.
“We are entering a new phase for our Company,” CEO Jennifer Witz said in an email to employees Monday. “The investments we are making in the industry this year, coupled with today’s uncertain economic environment, require us to think differently about the structure of our organization.”
Shares of SiriusXM hit a new 52-week low on Monday.
In November, the CEO had told the company that a review of the company would be part of its plans for 2023. Witz said in the memo on Monday that the company has also reduced the costs of content and marketing , have reduced their real estate footprint and also placed tighter restrictions on travel and entertainment spending.
“However, today’s decision to reduce our workforce was necessary so that we can maintain a sustainable profitable company,” Witz said.
Layoffs have been occurring across the media and technology industry in recent months as companies face macroeconomic challenges and weather the economic downturn.
SiriusXM, backed by John Malone’s Liberty Media, has been particularly affected by lower car sales, as satellite radio subscriptions often come with new cars. The company said it had 32.4 million self-pay subscribers at the end of 2022, but ended the fourth quarter at 6.8 million trial subscribers, down about 224,000 from the previous quarter.
However, the monthly rate of customers cutting their subscriptions stood at 1.5% in the quarter, remaining “at record lows”.
Read the full memo here:
From: Jennifer Witz
Date: Monday, March 6, 2023 at 7:58 am
Theme: Important company update
Good morning,
I have difficult news to share. Following a review of our business, we have decided to reduce the size of our workforce by 475 positions, or 8%. Unfortunately, this will mean saying goodbye to talented colleagues across the organisation.
Over today, affected employees will begin receiving invitations to participate in meetings with their own manager and a member of our People + Culture team.
I want to acknowledge that this is a challenging day, especially for those who are leaving the Company, and I would like to thank everyone for their contributions to SiriusXM. Regardless of the team, level, or tenure, you played a part in bringing our Company to where it is today and for that we are grateful. This was not an easy decision to make, or one we took lightly. However, it is imperative that we 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 are making in the industry this year, along with today’s uncertain economic environment, require us to think differently about the structure of our organization. As I shared in November, our planning process for 2023 included an enterprise-wide review of our business to identify opportunities for greater agility and efficiency. As part of this effort, we identified areas where we could limit discretionary spending to minimize the impact of additional downsizing needs. We streamlined our non-inventory costs by reducing content and marketing spend, reducing our real estate footprint, and most recently, implementing tighter restrictions in our Travel and Leisure policy. However, today’s decision to reduce our workforce was necessary so that we could maintain a sustainably profitable company.
Who is affected?
Over the past five years, our business has grown and expanded by adding new benefits, business lines and revenue streams. Now, we have evaluated our departments and functions to find out where we can improve collaboration, consolidate teams to achieve greater efficiency, and ultimately, organization structure design that is best positioned to achieve our priorities. As a result, nearly every segment across SiriusXM will be affected. We believe the new operational design will allow us to move faster and more efficiently as we take on new challenges across our business.
What next?
For those who are leaving us, you will be notified directly of your departure, and you will have the opportunity to speak to a leader from your department as well as a member of our People + Culture team. We understand that this transition will not be easy, but please know that we are committed to supporting you through this process, and we provide exit packages that provide including severance, transitional health insurance benefits, continuation of the Employee Advocacy Program, and accommodation services. .
Today is one of the most difficult days we have had as a team, and these changes have a big impact on each of us. However, I believe that these difficult decisions were necessary as we look to seize the opportunity that lies ahead of us.
Together, we are committed to delivering the best premium audio experience in North America. We’re evolving our service to give the next generation of listeners new ways to discover and engage with our amazing programming and talent. With our vision as clear as ever, and our operational transformation now underway, we will continue to make investments as we prepare for our next major milestone : the launch of a new, best-in-class SiriusXM experience.
Again, to those affected by these changes, I thank you for everything you’ve done to bring SiriusXM to where it is today, and I wish best of luck in your future endeavours.
We will discuss these changes and our way forward at our next Company-wide All Hands meeting. In the meantime, I will be in touch later today to share an update and you will also hear more from your CEOs throughout the rest of this week.
In closing, thank you for your focus, enthusiasm, and calmness. This is not an easy time for any of us, so it is more important than ever that we support each other, and that you follow our leaders, including me, as we work through the next steps.
– Jennifer
