The Washington Post announced on Wednesday that it would begin mass layoffs, affecting hundreds of journalists in the newsroom. The layoffs are expected to “decimate the organization’s sports, local news and international coverage,” The New York Times stated. In an email sent to staffers by Executive Editor Matt Murray and Human Resources Chief Wayne Connell, employees were instructed to stay home but attend a Zoom meeting to learn about “significant actions.” BREAKING: Washington Post employees have been asked to stay home today and participate in a Zoom call at 8:30am Widespread layoffs expected — Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) February 4, 2026 More from The New York Times: The company is laying off about 30 percent of all its employees, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. That includes people on the business side and more than 300 of the roughly 800 journalists in the newsroom, the people said. The cuts are a sign that Jeff Bezos, who became one of the world’s richest people by selling things on the internet, has not yet figured out how to build and maintain a profitable publication on the internet. The paper expanded during the first several years of his ownership, but the company has sputtered more recently. Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said on a call Wednesday morning with newsroom employees that the company had lost too much money for too long and had not been meeting readers’ needs. He said that all sections would be affected in some way, and that the end result would be a publication focused even more on national news and politics, as well as business and health, and far less on other areas. “If anything, today is about positioning ourselves to become more essential to people’s lives in what is becoming more crowded, competitive and complicated media landscape,” Mr. Murray said. “And after some years when, candidly, The Post has had struggles.” Mr. Murray said the sports section would close, though some of its reporters would stay on and move to the features department to cover the culture of sports. The Post’s metro section will shrink, and the books section will close, as will the “Post Reports” daily news podcast. “These layoffs are not inevitable. A newsroom cannot be hollowed out without consequences of its credibility, its reach and its future,” said the Washington Post Guild, which represents hundreds of newsroom employees, according to NBC News. “In just the last three years, the Post’s workforce has shrunk by roughly 400 people. Continuing to eliminate workers only stands to weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut The Post’s mission: to hold power to account without fear or favor and provide critical information for communities across the region, country and world,” it added. Journalists are being shown the door at the Washington Post today. One third of staff are being cut, per AP The sports department: gone Books department: closing The number of international journalists: reduced Local reporting arm: “restructured”… — Ben Dennis Reports (@broadcastben_) February 4, 2026 NBC News shared further: The announcement follows recent scrutiny over newsroom budget decisions, including the paper’s shifting plans around Winter Olympics coverage. As first reported by The New York Times, the paper initially told more than a dozen journalists it would no longer send them to cover the Winter Olympics in Italy, less than three weeks before the Games were set to begin. After public criticism, including from prominent sports journalists, the paper reversed course again and now expects to send four reporters, NBC News confirmed. In a statement, former Washington Post editor Marty Baron said Wednesday’s announcement “ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.” And ahead of the layoffs, members from the Post’s local desk wrote in an open letter dated Jan. 27 to Bezos that they had been warned their section would be “decimated” and left “unrecognizable,” urging leadership to preserve the paper’s local coverage. Similarly, the guild had also warned in the days leading up to Wednesday’s announcement that the cuts could “potentially leave our newsroom even smaller than the one [Bezos] purchased — and losing twice as much money.”