UBM’s TechInsights Reorganizes, Lays Off 10%

Aligns business around three verticals.

By Jason Fell
12/02/2008

In an effort to streamline the business and integrate recent acquisitions, United Business Media’s TechInsights group today announced a “leadership reorganization” that has resulted in the elimination of roughly 10 percent of its global workforce, or about 25 employees.

“We continue to invest in strategic acquisitions and we constantly innovate our business and content models,” CEO Paul Miller said in a statement.

The reorganization aligns TechInsight’s businesses into three verticals: media (which includes EE Times and TechOnline), marketing services and professional services. Leading these new groups will be Paul Way (senior vice president of media), Harry Page (SVP of professional services) and Jenn Markey (chief marketing officer).

As part of the reorganization, Miller will serve in a sales leadership capacity on an interim basis for EE Times and TechOnline.

In terms of growth, TechInsights will be making its biggest investments in online, performance marketing and professional services, Markey told FOLIO:. “We’re approaching an inflection point between the sponsored-driven side of our business and the audience-driven side,” she said. “The services side comes strictly from the audience perspective and the other side comes from the sponsor. We’re looking to for opportunities to marry the two and reuse content from the services business into the media side while trying to subsidize some of the cost the sponsors are currently bearing for that content in that particular space.”

Markey declined to speak about specific layoffs other than to say “less than 10 percent” of TechInsight’s overall workforce was eliminated. Following the reorganization, the business will employ about 250 people worldwide, she said.

This isn’t the first round of layoffs from TechInsights this year. In May, about 10 people were laid off across the board, including sales, editorial and production.