BuzzFeed has announced that they will be reducing employee’s salaries and cutting CEO salary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee salary reductions will run until the beginning of June.
The breakdown in salary reductions will vary by annual salary. Employees making under $65,000 annually will suffer a 5% reduction. Those making between $65,000-$90,000 will experience a 7% cut. Other staffers will endure a 10% pay cut while executives will experience cuts ranging from 14% to 25%. At the top, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti will not take his salary until the crisis passes.
“I will not be taking a salary until we are on the other side of this crisis,” Peretti said.
“I understand this will be a real hardship for everyone, but our goal is to make it possible for all of us to get through this,” Peretti added.
“A lot of people are happy with this decision because there are no layoffs,” one staffers told The Daily Beast.
BuzzFeed is one of many companies dealing with the struggles of a health crisis. Yesterday, Endeavor laid off 250 employees. Other media companies are dealing with the health effects of the crisis. Six Fox News employees have reportedly tested positive for the virus and an NBC News staffer died of the virus last week
