US News furloughs undisclosed number of employees
I know as far as Blind goes not many will care, but I wanted to post this information as a warning on who to “trust” when it comes to getting information.
US News has prided itself on providing “transparent” rankings for decades across multiple products. However, when it comes to employees, they could not care less.
For reference, the company is owned by a billionaire, and last year they had the “best year in the company’s history”. As a thank you, employees were given a $1000 bonus contribution to their 401k, which they will not receive unless they are with the company 3 years.
At the end of March, the company disclosed that pay cuts were taking place. This process was not at all transparent - employees were privately messaged what their pay cut would be. 401k contributions were also halted. Through communication from employees, it appears this is the cut rate:
Less than $50k: 1%
$50k-55k: Varies 1-5%
$55k-100k: 10%
$100k-150k - 15%
$150k+: 20%
Executive staff confirmed that their salaries were cut at 20%. They would not confirm if their bonuses were impacted, and when employees sent a letter asking for more transparency to the executive team, they refused to answer.
Today, multiple employees were told they would be furloughed 90 days, or they could quit with an unknown severance. Many of these employees were told before their supervisors were informed. Executives did not cut their salaries any further. When furloughed employees started talking about steps forward on Slack, their accounts were deactivated. They are expected to still report to work tomorrow.
This company prides themselves on transparency, except when it comes to its employees. They say they are operating in our best interest but they are operating in the best interest of our owner. He alone could cover operating costs for over 50 years.
This is not how organizations should operate. Be careful what news organizations you use.
#furlough #paycuts #usnews #transparency
comments
This is a business built for profit and they can no longer pay salaries. It’s the ugly side of shutting down the economy.
Sorry to hear about it though.
Our president likened us to Buzzfeed since they had cuts too. Difference is, Buzzfeed was transparent about their cut rates, and their CEO forewent his salary.
I’m not sure what revenue streams would be impacted, probably advertising if I had to make a guess. 20% salary on the upper end is a huge cut after the “best year” in company history. Probably a combination of both revenue short falls and fat cutting. Maybe some hedging that employees will still stick around despite the cuts in this job market, so the next year will be record profits on reduced operational expense.
A lot of teams are already worn very thin. Over the years as people have quit their positions have not been filled.