Jeff Bezos confronted by Washington Post employee over his newspaper's pending layoffs

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A Washington Post staffer confronted billionaire owner Jeff Bezos face-to-face about the newspaper's pending layoffs when he visited its offices on Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned.

Bezos' presence at the paper this week has caused a buzz at the outlet as job cuts are expected to be announced in the coming days; founder of Amazon and one of the world's richest men, Bezos' appearances come with security in the Post's halls. An insider shared a conversation from the Washington Post Guild's Slack channel, where the unnamed staffer ran into Bezos and called out publisher Fred Ryan for not answering questions about the layoffs.

The employee, a union member, asked Bezos why the newspaper wasn't at least offering buyouts.

He told the employee he was there to listen and not take questions, adding, "I'm committed. Believe me, I'm committed." 

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Bezos was in the offices to visit with senior leadership and sit in on an editorial meeting, although he has said he does not weigh in on decision-making around content. Bezos met with some section editors and executive editor Sally Buzbee this week, in addition to the paper's embattled publisher.

The Washington Post is coming off a tough year, with reports of subscriber losses, prominent departures of key journalists, a social media fiasco ending in reporter Felicia Sonmez's firing and now pending layoffs amid widespread job losses in the media industry.

Ryan angered Guild members last month when he announced first-quarter 2023 job cuts at a meeting but then wouldn't take questions, usually a facet of so-called company "town halls." Ryan said he didn't want to have a "grievance session" with the union, adding he anticipated it would be single-digit percentage job losses, which could affect as many as 100 employees.

"The Washington Post is evolving and transforming to put our business in the best position for future growth. We are planning to direct our resources and invest in coverage, products, and people in service of providing high value to our subscribers and new audiences. As a result, a number of positions will be eliminated. We anticipate it will be a single-digit percentage of our employee base, and we will finalize those plans over the coming weeks. This will not be a net reduction in Post headcount. Recently, we have made some of the largest investments in The Post’s history and 2023 will be another year of continued investment," a spokeswoman told Fox News Digital at the time.

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The Washington Post insider criticized Ryan's handling of the situation to Fox News Digital, saying the announcement and subsequent refusal to answer reporters' questions about it simply made things worse.

"Why announce in mid-December that some vague number of layoffs was coming at some undetermined point during the first quarter of the next year?" they asked. "And then not answer a single question about it from a room full of reporters. What’s the point other than to induce anxiety in your workforce? Just about every conversation I’ve had in the newsroom over the past month has been about what’s about to go down. And no one really knows anything."

The Washington Post Guild told Fox News Digital it hoped Bezos was true to his word when he said he would listen.

"The Post Guild is the strongest it has been in decades, with nearly 700 members across the company and a record number of sign-ups in recent weeks," the Guild said in a statement. "Our members have thoughtful questions and valid concerns that our publisher and other company representatives have refused for months to answer, including about the rationale for layoffs and plans for how they'll be conducted. Mr. Bezos said he was attending Post meetings to listen; we hope he has heard our members' concerns."

Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013. Due to his immense wealth and influence, his ownership of one of the most widely read American newspapers has come under criticism at times. His estimated net worth is over $100 billion, although he has been supplanted as the world's richest man by Elon Musk.

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The Washington Post didn't return a request for comment.

This article was updated with a comment from the Washington Post Guild.