More on VNU Layoffs

The VNU layoff news continues, with insiders speaking to us outside the confines of the company about a “gag order” in place, and their inability to contact us from inside due to the “Employee Monitoring System,” in which the company tracks employee emails and phone calls. Writes one insider:

“This came right after VNU forked over lots of cash in the infamous ‘Billboard Dildo Lawsuit‘ During that suit, lots of inflammatory internal emails implicating executives and underlings surfaced (including VNU HR’s racial profiling emails). After that, the co. decided to put the “Employee Monitoring System” in place.”

VNU publishes not only Billboard, but also such media industry stalwarts as AdWeek, MediaWeek and The Hollywood Reporter. They’re apparently losing some 4,000 of their 40,000 staff worldwide. The company has been reevaluating and restructuring since being acquired last May by Valcon, a consortium of investors.

We’re told another shoe is dropping soon: AdWeek‘s Marketing y Medios, an English language publication about marketing to a Hispanic audience, is “going under” in a few weeks. The magazine “explores the unique challenges encountered by marketers and media serving the U.S. Hispanic market,” according to VNU’s website.

EARLIER

Developing: Significant Layoffs in Works at VNU

VNU Restructures, But Doesn’t Change Name — Yet

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