Outside Media Lays Off 12% of Staff

Lifestyle media company Outside Media, which houses titles including Backpacker, Ski and Climbing, laid off 12% of its workforce Tuesday, according to a memo sent by founder and CEO Robin Thurston.

The layoffs primarily affect roles in content and journalism, and stem largely from slowing consumer appetite and a softening digital ad market, Thurston told employees. The news was first reported by Ari Schneider, a senior writer at Mountain Gazette.

“Rising prices, higher interest rates and continued supply chain disruptions are creating unprecedented pressures that are being felt in every household and company,” Thurston wrote. 

“While we are hitting our revised membership goals, the slowdown in consumer spending has affected our events and cut into the double-digit growth in ad sales we enjoyed in the first three quarters of the year.”

The cuts mark the second time this year Outside Media has reduced headcount, following a 15% staff reduction in May. A representative of the publisher did not immediately return a request for comment.

The economic slowdown is impacting staffing levels across the media, marketing and technology industries.

On Tuesday, Axel Springer-owned tech policy title Protocol shuttered abruptly, while other outlets, including BDG and Recurrent Ventures, have also eliminated roles.  

The combination of a downturn in demand for digital advertising, combined with a decrease in consumer spending spurred by inflation and rising interest rates, have tightened the already slim margins of the media industry.

Big bets during pandemic boom

Outside Media, whose star rose during the pandemic as millions flocked to the outdoors as an escape from lockdown, went on a shopping spree last year. 

By July 2021, Outside Media included 39 distinct titles, which it began offering as a subscription bundle called Outside+. Perks included unlimited digital access to articles, discounted merchandise, access to a library of outdoor films and more.

When Outside announced cuts earlier this year, it cited its ongoing digital transformation as the primary catalyst, as the publisher sought to best balance its portfolio of legacy print products with its push toward a digital future.

Its latest round of cuts reflect not just a worsening ad market but a contraction from its pandemic-era expansion, according to Thurston.

Management admitted that in its bid to capitalize on the outdoor fervor and frothy advertising market of 2021, the publisher grew too rapidly.

“Have we made decisions that contributed to this situation? Yes,” wrote Thurston. “We’ve pursued ambitious growth projections and spent too freely. We’ve made investments that I’d think twice about now, and we’ve been slower to realize synergies when adding new companies. We’ve also scaled staffing and compensation at a much faster rate than we’ve grown revenue.”