Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Network World, CXO Media announce layoffs

By Galen Moore

Network World Inc. and CXO Media Inc. today laid off an unspecified number of editorial, sales and design employees at the publications’ Framingham headquarters, said a spokesman for parent company IDG Communications.

Network World covers the network and IT industries with online and print publications. CXO Media publishes magazines for c-level executives.

Company spokesman Howard Sholkin declined to say how many employees were let go, saying only that the layoff amounted to “a small number” of journalism, sales and design professionals.

“We’re continuing to adjust our spending levels to the business conditions as they exist,” he said. CXO Media and Network World are primarily ad-supported. Both are subsidiaries of Boston-based IDG with shared offices in Framingham.

Universal Hub blog editor Adam Gaffin was among the employees laid off and posted news of his departure on universalhub.com, which covers Boston-area news and blogs. Reached by email, Gaffin declined to comment about the layoffs but said he will seek ways to make universalhub.com a profitable business.

“I think there is a market for a news/discussion site in Boston -- one that can provide a useful service to visitors and make money at ad rates a lot lower than boston.com
charges,” Gaffin said in an email, referring to the site operated by the Boston Globe.