Medium Eliminating a Third of Workforce to Rethink Strategy Around Rewarding Content Creators

Medium is laying off one-third of its workforce as the company shifts its business model “to more directly drive the mission we set out on originally.”

The company is eliminating 50 jobs, “mostly in sales, support, and other business functions.”

“While we could continue on our current path — and there is a business case for doing so — we decided that we risk failing on our larger, original mission if we don’t make some proactive changes while we have the momentum and resources to do so,” wrote Medium CEO Ev Williams online.

Williams says the original goal was “to build a better publishing platform — one that allowed anyone to offer their stories and ideas to the world and that helped the great ones rise to the top.”

To achieve this, Medium wants to define a new model for rewarding writers. However, Williams admits he does not not yet know what this may look like.

In preparation, Medium is closing offices in New York and Washington DC, and some of the layoffs include executives. Most product development and engineering members will stay on board.

“This is certainly one of the hardest things I’ve done in my years as a founder and CEO,” Williams, a cofounder of Twitter, said. “We know the path ahead will not be easy. But we are excited about our challenge. Thank you for your support of Medium. Look for even more great stories and important ideas in the year ahead.”