Digital media outlet Vice will no longer publish content on its website Vice.com and will lay off "several hundred" staff, as per a memo sent to the employees by the company's chief executive officer Bruce Dixon, The Guardian reported.  

Dixon said it was no longer “cost-effective” for Vice to distribute digital content, including news, and also that the company is in “advanced talks” to sell Refinery29, its women-focused publishing division.

The memo said Vice will look to “partner with established media companies” where it is “viewed most broadly”, as the company fully transitions to a “studio model”.  

At present, the company has over 900 employees, of which many have taken to X, saying stories with their bylines have been deleted from the media outlet’s website.   

Many Vice employees and contributors expressed uncertainty on X, saying they are likely to be informed about the layoff next week. As journalists tried to archive the links to their stories on Vice.com, a reporter said the website's “non-existence” will “irrevocably damage” their online presence. 

A staffer also posted that the company had “shut off” their ability to “download our emails” and that many speculated the company will delete the entire website.

This comes less than a year after the company filed for bankruptcy in May last year, and shut down its Asia bureau. The company was subsequently bought by a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group, which also included Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital.

Vice, which began operating in 1994, with the launch of a punk magazine in Montreal, grew as a global media house over the decades and was valued at $5.7 billion at its peak in 2017.

Meanwhile, tech publication Engadget, operated by Yahoo, also announced in a memo that it is “restructuring” its team and laying off 10 people employees. The media outlet will split its editorial staff into two sections, Verge reported. 

The media industry has witnessed a spate of layoffs and shut downs in recent years. Last year, National Geographic stopped publishing its magazine and laid off its editorial staff. Meanwhile, Vox Media and Condé Nast, which owns multiple media outlets including New Yorker, Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair and Architectural Digest, slashed their workforce.

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