After months of crisis: another round of layoffs at Walla
After months of tension between management and the employees' representatives, agreements were reached on a reduction plan: up to seven employees will end their employment, two will be reassigned to other roles, and management committed not to carry out further layoffs among journalists in the next seven months.
The Walla employees' committee and the Journalists' Union informed staff that on Wednesday evening, agreements were reached with Walla's management to regulate staff reductions. In recent months, management has been in a state of crisis with employee representatives. Following a meeting and a review of alternatives, the committee decided to formalize the agreements.
According to the committee's announcement, up to seven employees are expected to end their employment as part of the current round of reductions, while two additional employees will move to other roles without any reduction in salary or conditions.
It was also determined that:
"Employees who end their employment will be given a notice period of two weeks beyond what is required by law. Management will be entitled to release these employees from actual work during this time, and they will be entitled to payment in lieu of notice (base salary) for this period."
In addition, it was agreed that there will be no further layoffs among journalists for the next seven months. Walla's management also declared its commitment to continue acting in accordance with the company's code of ethics.
Following this process, a general news desk is expected to remain at Walla, though most section editors, including those for fashion and technology, will leave the system. It is estimated that a number of editors will remain in fields such as culture and celebrity news, while reporters will continue their work as usual. The committee's announcement mentioned responsible editor Ilail Shahar-Lis, wishing her success. However, the name of editor-in-chief Or Tsalkovnik was not mentioned, even though the two are supposed to work "shoulder to shoulder."
Recently, there has been a great sense of uncertainty among Walla employees due to management's actions, including large-scale forced leave and the doubling of daily content targets for each section. Recently, it was reported that journalist Meital Koifman will be compensated with 53,000 shekels by Walla for a dismissal that was not conducted in good faith. The court ruled that raising traffic targets after the war set "an unrealistic bar of requirements that placed the evacuated employee before a predetermined failure."
Walla responded: "Walla's management is doing everything for the benefit of the company and the employees."
