Scoop: KQED Expects to Lay Off 18-25 Employees
Scoop: KQED Expects to Lay Off 18-25 Employees
The News Arrives Two Years After the Bay Area NPR and PBS Member Station Completed a $90 Million Renovation
Hey all —
I was working on a different issue of this newsletter (which I still plan to send out in the next couple of days), when a source sent me this disheartening news about my local NPR affiliate station, KQED. Let’s get through it quickly.
Scoop: NPR and PBS Member Station KQED Expects to Lay Off 18-25 Employees
About three weeks ago, SF Gate reported that KQED, the most well-known public broadcaster in the Bay Area, was offering staff buyouts to older employees in order to address a budget deficit (a spokesperson quoted in the story described the program as one that would “empower qualified employees to make their own career decisions.”). The news was delivered to staffers in an email from CEO Michael Isip, and included a warning that layoffs could come next.
And now, that warning has become reality.
In an email sent to all KQED staffers yesterday afternoon and viewed by me, Isip explained that the number of people who had opted to voluntarily leave their job hadn’t been enough to close the budget gap and that the station would now have to make “a range of cuts across the organization, including layoffs.” Isip added that “we don’t know the exact number of staff layoffs, but we expect the range will be between 18-25 people.” He left the timing opaque, writing that “his next update” would be shared at a May 23 all-staff meeting and that “more details” would arrive “by the end of this month.”
Of course, I have questions. For example, KQED laid off 20 people to cover a budget shortfall just four years ago; how did the station arrive at this same place again? How does the station’s $94 million renovation, which was completed in December of 2021 — just before Isip says the station began to work under a “board-approved” budget deficit — play into all of this? Have alternatives to layoffs been considered, such as executive paycuts? How are the unions responding?
If you have insights to share regarding any of this, please hit reply on this email and let me know, or email me at skyepillsatwork@gmail.com (we can also jump over to WhatsApp or Signal from there).
Take care of yourselves out there and I’ll see you again soon.
Skye
Postscript:
On a personal level - the disgusting treatment of W2 employees makes me feel really confident that my decision to try and stay independent is the right call.
On a systems level - it is infuriating to me that policy makers (looking at CEOs and boards) aren't making more thoughtful decisions when people's liveliehoods are at stake. Nobody deserves to be treated like this.
If KQED wants to survive, it should sell the TV licence and just be a great NPR affilliate. Nobody watches the boring programs on that TV station.