Sports blogging site Deadspin was sold to a European start-up and the entire staff was reportedly fired with barely any notice Monday — just months after the publication was forced to apologize for wrongly accusing a young Kansas City Chiefs fan of wearing “blackface.”

Jim Spanfeller, the CEO of parent G/O Media, broke the news of the layoffs and Deadspin’s sale to Lineup Publishing in a memo to shocked staff — the latest piece of the company’s crumbling empire to be dumped amid a wave of job cuts roiling the entire industry.

Layoff announcements in February hit their highest level for the month since the global financial crisis, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The total of 84,638 planned cuts showed an increase of 3% from January and 9% from the same month a year ago, with technology and finance companies at the forefront.

For decades, California’s behemoth economy has outpaced those of most nations, holding an outsize role in shaping global trends in tech, entertainment and agriculture.

While that reputation remains, the state has a less enviable distinction: one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.

Washington's NPR affiliate, WAMU, plans to shut down local news site DCist and lay off 15 staffers as part of a strategic shift focused on audio.

The big picture: The shift away from digital publishing will allow WAMU to focus on its core radio products, as well as new digital audio opportunities like podcasts and live events, WAMU general manager Erika Pulley-Hayes told Axios.

"We're making the choice to invest in what we're better at than anyone else in this town, and that's audio," Pulley-Hayes said.

Networking giant Cisco is laying off more than 4,000 employees to shift focus and resources towards developing its AI capabilities.

The New York Post reports that Cisco, the multinational technology conglomerate, announced plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs across its global workforce in order to redirect resources into AI initiatives. The layoffs account for approximately five percent of Cisco’s 85,000 employees and are expected to cost the company $800 million in severance packages.

Social media giant Snap, which operates Snapchat, has announced plans to cut "approximately" 10% of its staff.

The firm said in November 2023 it had 5,000 employees, suggesting around 500 people are facing redundancy.

It comes a day before Snap reports its fourth-quarter results - having reported a net loss of $368m (£294m) in the previous quarter in October 2023.

Snapchat said the move would "reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration".

A text time-stamped 1:19 a.m. early Wednesday read, “I think it’s over, man.” It was a Los Angeles–based colleague at The Messenger. He’d received an unanticipated direct deposit and the sum totaled his unused vacation days. I guess in addition to good weather they have some solid labor laws in California. In New York City, I was laid off without additional pay. Plus it was raining.

United Parcel Service said it planned to shed about 12,000 jobs this year and mandated staff work from offices five days a week starting March 4, as the package-delivery company seeks to boost productivity amid a protracted slowdown in business.

The cuts are primarily targeted at management staff worldwide as well as contract workers, UPS executives said Tuesday, adding that those jobs weren’t likely to return even when business picks up. The company has around 85,000 management employees.