United CEO addresses flight cuts with employees amid war; CBS News lays off employees due to ’changing business’

Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few news stories from the last week and see what we can learn from them.

1. United CEO urges calm amid Iran war, fuel price spikes and flight cuts in employee memo

United CEO Scott Kirby addressed the airline’s employees late last week, telling them that even with the war in Iran causing fuel prices to soar and the airline cutting some flights, employees should remain calm and trust in the business. In his memo, Kirby mixed personal anecdotes with an overarching message that affirmed the company had a plan to weather any unforeseen circumstances.

He urged employees to stay focused on the company’s long-term future and outlined the steps United is taking to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Notably, Kirby said that cost-cutting measures and delaying investments in the company’s future are currently off the table.

We’re ready, we have a plan and we’re going to continue executing that plan.

I realize this note may seem like a lot, but the simplest thing I can say to all of you is the bottom line – I want you to sleep well at night knowing United prepared for this and I’m asking you to stay 100% focused on what you’ve been doing to take care of each other and our customers.

Kirby’s note seeks to keep employee faith in their employer steady while simultaneously acknowledging the disruption in the aviation industry right now. He’s clear that the factors driving changes are external and frames flight cuts as temporary as opposed to broader pullbacks.

It’s also worth noting that he takes the possibility of layoffs off the table (for now, anyway). That’s a major signal of stability in a volatile environment. While he communicates that changes due to the war and fuel prices are needed, Kirby’s note works to shore up confidence in his employee base by stating that United’s fundamentals are strong.

2. CBS News ascribes layoffs to changing news landscape in internal memo

Late last week, CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and network president Tom Cibrowski circulated an internal memo informing employees of a round of layoffs. Obtained by Business Insider, the memo stated that the layoffs were due to a shifting environment in the media industry.

It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it. New audiences are burgeoning in new places, and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them. That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive.

But these are very hard choices and today is a difficult day.

Weiss and Cibrowski’s memo frames the layoffs as inevitable. That removes a sense of choice on behalf of leadership in the message. The note also positions the cuts as an investment in the future of the company, with language that seeks to distance the company from its past.

While the memo is clear that job cuts are happening, it doesn’t say much about exactly what’s coming next. This helps preserve flexibility for CBS News’ next move, but it may raise questions and concerns from employees. The memo is also careful to mention that the decisions aren’t related to employee performance; that matters to shield both leaders and remaining employees from blame. CBS News is undergoing a tumultuous transformation. This language is unlikely to quell unrest in the newsroom, but hopefully it marks a turning point away from cuts and toward rebuilding.

3. Epic Games CEO tells employees layoffs are partly due to ’challenges‘ with Fortnite

Founder and CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney this week announced that the company is laying off 1,000 employees in a memo published to the organization’s website. He chalked the move up to market conditions and more specifically, fading engagement with the company’s largest title, Fortnite,  and the fact that the company is “spending more than we’re making.”

Some of the challenges we’re facing are industry-wide challenges: slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics; current consoles selling less than last generation’s; and games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.

And some of our challenges are unique to Epic. Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season; we’re only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones; and in being the industry’s vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.

Sweeney also notably said that the layoffs were not due to any AI-related factors, as is often the case in the current environment.

By ascribing the decision to a decline in engagement with Fortnite, Sweeney moves the narrative toward outside user behavior. This framing is deliberate; it moves the focus away from a strategic failure on the part of leadership or the company and instead pins it to an abstract term with “engagement.” The result is a memo that acknowledges employee pain (it starts with “I’m sorry”) but is just vague enough to preserve leadership’s credibility going forward.

4. How about some good news?

• A study found that coffee may protect the brain from dementia.
• King Charles III opened a new hiking trail that traces the entire coast of England.
• The Nashville Public Library is offering free digitization of old media, including VHS tapes.
• Ragan Training is an excellent place for communications professionals to find inspiration and valuable resources.
• You should be rewarded for your work. Find out how to earn an award here!

Have a great weekend comms all-stars!

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.