WP Media employees were surprised by the layoffs. “sudden”

10% will leave the company. employee. – It was like a bolt from the sky – a WP employee told us. In a meeting with Joanna Pawlak, president of WP Media, managers heard that these were the largest layoffs since 2014, when Wirtualna Polska merged with o2.pl, which was a result of the sale.

She said the changes are part of WP Media’s long-term development vision, which continually seeks to increase efficiency and adapt to the dynamically changing market environment. Joanna Pawlak was quoted in the statement. – Failure to meet assumed employment targets resulting from the economic slowdown and the increasing dominance of global technology platforms has led to the need to change priorities, including employment reductions. – she added.

WP Holding CEO Jacek Swiderski spoke about the dominance of global platforms that have been “eating up” the growth of the advertising market for a long time. – The fact that we are being pushed out of the free model of providing content in exchange for advertising by big tech companies has a social impact. If there was no free content on the Internet, a large portion of society would not be able to access information at all – He recently translated at the Impact’24 conference.

Reductions in positions in the editorial offices of Wirtualna Polska Media

The layoffs announced by WP Media on Tuesday included, among others: the news editorial offices, the motorcycle department or the culture and entertainment district. There are teams that even most employees say goodbye to. On other sites, such as money.pl, the cuts relate to a small part of the team.

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Journalists Żaneta Gotowalska-Wróblewska, Łukasz Maziewski and Rafał Mrowicki have already reported their separation from WP Media.

– I am one of the people affected by them. We thank you for your cooperation with the editorial office. Now it’s time to rest and look for new challenges. See you on or off the media trail! – Written on the X platform Żaneta Gotowalska-Wróblewska, associated with WP for two years.

– As it turned out, my three-year professional journey at Wirtualna Polska and o2.pl ended today. It’s been a good path in which I’ve been able to accomplish many things that I’m proud of, but above all, collaborate with really great people! A lot of learning – and patience – on their part, Lukasz Maziewski writes.

– My job at WP ends in three years. Unfortunately, I was also vulnerable to massive layoffs. Although it is the end for me, I wish the best to the WP team – with whom I worked well and met great people – said Mrowicki.

Wirtualna Polska reported that prThe evaluation was conducted in accordance with applicable law and The Labor Council was consulted. It started on Tuesday and ends on Wednesday, May 22. There was no need to consult trade unions because there were none in the company.

An additional reward was offered to all people involved in this operationbeyond what may result from their current contracts and applicable regulations, as well as the opportunity to participate in active job search training – mentioned in the advertisement.

The company emphasizes that “despite restructuring activities that have been carried out in some less promising areas, investments are being increased in other areas and relevant recruitment operations are being carried out.” – Where possible, employees have been offered transfer to another job. Thanks to the support of Wirtualna Polska Holding, some people received an offer to move to other companies in the group – as stated in the announcement.

WP Media is only part of Wirtualna Polska Holding. This structure also includes, among others: companies such as Wakacje.pl, Totalmoney.pl or Nocowanie.pl.

WP Media managers are back in their offices permanently

A big change awaits WP Media managers from July. The Company’s Board of Directors has decided that all directors will return to work full time as of July 1, 2024 – They will have to come to the office five times a week. The remaining employees will continue to use the hybrid work model, which allows them to work 3 days in the office and 2 days remotely

Wirtualna Polska Holding implemented significant layoffs in the spring of 2020, immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic. She then said goodbye to dozens of people from her company Wakacje.pl, and also acquired the Nocowanie.pl platform.

In the first quarter of this year, Wirtualna Polska Holding’s revenues in the advertising and subscription segment amounted to PLN 166.37 million, i.e. 2%. Over a year ago, cash rose 1.9%. Up to 161.33 million Polish zlotys. However, adjusted EBITDA decreased from PLN 59.88 to PLN 54.51 million.

– The margin decrease is mainly due to higher sector operating costs, especially those related to salaries. The margin decline also results in part from a strategic change in the mix of segment areas – selling subscription products and outdoor advertising (WPartner) is characterized by lower underlying profitability compared to selling advertising – the company highlighted in the report. She announced, “Given that the improvement in advertising revenues in 2024 is slower than previous expectations, the Board of Directors has decided to adjust the level of planned costs to the lower revenue level.”

How much does Wirtualna Polska spend on salaries?

In the first quarter of this year Wirtualna Polska Holding allocated PLN 90.52 million to employee bonuses and benefits, compared to PLN 87.28 million in the previous year. However, costs for external services increased from PLN 111.74 to PLN 132.09 million.

In turn, Wirtualna Polska Media itself recorded PLN 121.05 million in staff costs in 2022 (the National Court Registry does not have its financial report for last year yet), compared to PLN 106.7 million in the previous year and PLN 83.23 million in 2020. . In recent years, Wirtualna Polska Media has absorbed several small media companies it previously acquired.