The news outlet Insider Incorporated publicly announced on Thursday morning that it would lay off 10% of its staff, including staff writers. According to the obtained email sent to staff by president Barbara Peng, affected staff members would receive 13 weeks base salary, two additional weeks for each year worked up to four years, medical coverage till August 2023, and career support services such as resume reviews and one-one-ones with coaches.
The president’s message stated that the industry is facing significant pressure, due to the economic downturn, thus leading to the action. Furthermore, management indicated unsuccessful attempts of avoiding such step, lamenting the unfortunate impact it had on some of the employees.
Nevertheless, on the same week, Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Carlson announced that staff writers would be involved in experiments that would utilize artificial intelligence in order to generate story outlines and headlines, thereby making the process of creating content easier. Nonetheless, Carlson warned staff to not feed sensitive information such as sources to the ChatGPT, or any other AI chatbot.
Insider Inc. is a news and entertainment company located in New York. Founded by Henry Blodget in 2007, its portfolio comprises of websites and services such as businessinsider.com, insider.com and its mobile app InTheKnow. It is a privately owned company and its services are accessed by consumers around the world.
Barbara Peng is the President of Insider Inc. She took the role soon after the company was founded and has been managing it since. During her role, she has implemented several strategies such as deepening the presence of experts, developing enterprise-level commerce initiatives, and expanding news collaboration with media partners. Her efforts have been essential for the company’s success, and hence she was appointed president in 2019.
