Staff at The Washington Post are bracing for potentially significant job cuts, with rumors suggesting layoffs could exceed 100 positions, representing more than 10% of the newsroom. The cuts, expected as early as February, have created a cloud of uncertainty, with staffers reporting anxiety and distraction during a challenging news cycle. The sections most likely to be affected include sports, metro, and foreign, according to employees who spoke with the Guardian.
On Sunday, approximately 60 members of the foreign staff sent a letter to billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, urging him to reconsider the proposed cuts. The letter, reviewed by the Guardian and first reported by the New York Times, warned that slashing international coverage would lead to irrelevance. “We know what happens when newspapers slash their international sections: they lose reach and they lose relevance,” the staffers wrote. They expressed openness to finding cost reductions through discussion with management while retaining as many jobs as possible.
The financial pressures at the Post have been evident in recent decisions. On Friday, Managing Editor Kimi Yoshino informed the sports department that the paper would not send reporters to cover the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy, despite having already spent about $80,000 on accommodations. The memo, obtained by the Guardian, acknowledged the decision would be disappointing.
The Post has not confirmed any impending layoffs, and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. However, the publication has implemented cost-cutting measures in recent years, including buyout rounds in 2023 and 2025, and layoffs of 54 employees in its publishing software division in fall 2024. In January 2025, the Post laid off about 4% of staff, fewer than 100 people, as part of a strategy to build a more sustainable future.
Despite the turmoil, the newsroom has continued producing high-quality reporting, including in-depth foreign coverage on topics such as the impact of USAID cuts in Congo, Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, and a sailor battling cancer. Senior media figures have warned that cuts to the newsroom would have consequences, with David E. Sanger of the New York Times calling the Post’s international reporting “part of the heart and soul of a great newspaper.”
