12/8/2023 0 Comments Vice media similar companies![]() One intern two years ago was excited to receive a full time position-until the company offered him a salary of $20K. Even as Shane Smith watches his millions increase, his employees are pissed that they can hardly afford rent in Brooklyn. ![]() "Unfortunately, we have a bit of a jackass who represents us publicly-and makes an insane amount of money while doing it."Ī more specific complaint: the salaries at Vice are low. "VICE editorial across the board is full of very good, smart, and talented employees," one person who spent years there told us. "The appeal is street cred, lots of free parties/booze and the hope that one earns a coveted Vice ring." (Literally, a ring that says "VICE," given to lucky employees.) "A handful of grown ups a thin middle layer and a gaggle of people who also moonlight at American Apparel" is how one veteran characterizes the company. Instead, the company pays shitty wages to low-level employees, "compensating" them instead with the sheer coolness of working for Vice Media. But a company as successful as Vice should be paying decent wages. ![]() Most people don't go into the media to get rich. And they unanimously said that while Shane Smith is getting rich, they're struggling just to pay the bills. A few months ago, we asked Vice employees to tell us what it's like working there. In the New York media world, Vice has a reputation as a less than ideal employer. So Vice's headquarters should be packed with happy employees. The money is flowing, and the parties are lavish. Vice Media has a successful cable show, a successful global magazine, and successful websites in multiple verticals, all supported by a successful ad agency that sells the company's cool young audience to major corporate brands. Barring any economic collapses in the meantime, a public offering would certainly make Shane Smith a billionaire. That's probably exaggerated, but perhaps not by too much-the same report said that Vice's annual revenue could reach $1 billion by 2016. That sounded like a lot, until Smith speculated in March that Vice could go public at a valuation of more than $20 billion. Last year, he lured a $70 million investment in his company from 21st Century Fox. In addition to becoming a TV star by hosting Vice's HBO show, he is a business star in the media world. Shane Smith is, in fact, a Very Important Person now. Shane Smith and a couple of friends breezed in the front door, straight through the VIP entrance, without even pausing to gladhand on the red carpet. Inside, glamorous models on stilts teetered through the crowd, and more earthbound models passed out trays of free liquor. The line of young, streetwear-clad hopefuls waiting to get in stretched around the block. ![]() The former Williamsburg Savings Bank, now a party palace, was lit up like a glowing wedding cake. Last week, Vice Media and Bacardi had a huge party in a towering event space under the Williamsburg bridge. So why are its employees so broke and pissed off? Vice's founder, Shane Smith, has speculated his company could raise tens of billions of dollars. It's the counterculture empire that even Rupert Murdoch could love. “It touches everyone at VICE-from finance to TV and editorial to IT-all departments at ever level will see some impact.Vice Media is one of the hottest media properties in America. “This shift centralizes many roles and eliminates overlap,” Dubuc wrote. Vice’s support operations, such as human resources and legal, will be centralized in Brooklyn. The media company will restructure its operations, transitioning from a global workforce organized by region to one built around its lines of business-its film and television production unit, its international news operation, its digital business, its television team and its ad agency. Now, it has taken the more drastic step of job cuts. Last fall, the company instituted a hiring freeze, as it attempted to reduce its workforce through attrition. Vice’s job cuts are not altogether unexpected. “All of these are ad-dependent companies, and ad-dependent companies have run into the problem where the hockey stick of growth is bent, if not broken,” said Doctor. last year, according to researcher eMarketer, leaving revenue scraps for media companies that rely on advertising sales to underwrite the cost of business. Together with Amazon, these digital ad dynamos capture a combined 62% of the digital advertising market in the U.S. Veteran media analyst Ken Doctor said the media world, digital and print alike, is impacted by the Google-Facebook duopoly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |