Forbes Restructures, Cuts 43
Publisher to combine print, Web staffs.

RELATED: Steve Forbesâ Memo
Forbes Media has announced that it will combine its print and Web staffsâboth sales and editorialâending a longstanding split within the company. And in what has become an increasingly commonâif surprisingârefrain, Forbes acknowledged that as part of the merge, there will be layoffsâsome 43 jobsâcoming on both sides of the aisle.
In an internal memo Monday, chairman and CEO Steve Forbes wrote that the âstructural changes that will enable us not only to better weather the current economic storm, but to move ahead quickly and profitably when the global economies begin recovering.â
The sales and marketing groups of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com will be combined into three specific unitsâa âBrand Intelligence Group,â âIntegrated Solutions Groupâ and âForbes Media Sales and Service Groupââall operating under the Forbes Media umbrella.
The heads of the newly-established groups will now report to the âOffice of the Chairman,â Forbes wrote, which will include president and COO Timothy Forbes, Forbes.com president and CEO Jim Spanfeller and Forbes himself.
The merging of the sales operation will begin immediately, Forbes wrote. Editorial integration of Forbes and Forbes.com will occur in early 2009.
As part of the restructuring, Forbesâ Web propertiesâincluding Forbes.com, Investopedia and RealClearPolitics.comâwill be aligned under a single digital banner; ForbesAutos.com will be shuttered.
Untouchable No More
The digital staffs of traditional print publishers, once considered high-growth areas and therefore virtually untouchable in cutback scenarios, have been seeing layoffs in recent months. In October, Mansueto Ventures, which publishes Fast Company and Inc., cut 20 jobs, most from its digital division.
On Monday, CondĂ© Nast, in the midst of a reported 5 percent staff reduction companywide, laid off an unspecified number at CondeNet. (The company had already moved to merge some of Portfolioâs back-end functions with Wired.)
And Meredith, which had pushed a 360-degree selling approach to sales bridging its print and digital offerings, cut its âchief innovation offerâ Jack Bamberger, who had pioneered the program.
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