ZIFF DAVIS CREATORS GUILD TO COMPANY EXEC KATE GUTMAN:

NEW YORK –  Unionized journalists at Ziff Davis brands including PCMag, CNET, Mashable and more have overwhelmingly approved a vote of no confidence in company executive vice president and tech group general manager Kate Gutman. The collective action from workers at the company comes in response to multiple rounds of layoffs during the last two years. 

Leadership at Ziff Davis Creators Guild, a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York, sent the vote of no confidence in a letter addressed to Gutman on Tuesday, Feb. 17. More than 80% of the union voted in favor and signed the letter.  

“We, the undersigned members of the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, are deeply concerned by your lack of leadership and distorted priorities driving the direction of our company in lieu of any discernible plan toward success. This letter is a vote of no confidence, which we have collectively taken, to demonstrate that we have lost all faith in your abilities to manage the company,” the missive to Gutman states. 

The tech publisher let go five additional workers in the most recent round of layoffs in January.  The Guild-represented workers had been central to the critically successful presence of Ziff Davis at CES, a major consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.  

The worker-signed letter continues: “We see this for what it is: Greed-driven decisions designed to pad company profits at the expense of the people who make the company’s success possible.” 

 Ziff Davis Creators Guild, which represents workers at multiple brands including Mashable, PCMag, CNET, ZDNet, and Lifehacker, stated in their vote of no confidence that Guild members have demonstrated consistently their willingness to work hard to counter the abysmal revenue and traffic numbers that have become Gutman’s legacy at Ziff Davis. Unfortunately, that willingness has not been supported by top brass. 

“But our ideas only go so far if the leaders at the top aren’t giving us the resources we need to succeed. This includes adequate staff; laying off our colleagues hinders our ability to serve our readers—and that’s not good business,” the statement reads. 

On Feb. 5 Ziff Davis management presented, at a company-wide town hall, an editorial plan for 2026 which many in attendance felt was inadequate to address the failures of Gutman’s tenure. Notably, the meeting did not include a dedicated Q&A for workers to ask essential, clarifying questions. The union demanded Gutman hold an open forum with workers to explain her rationale for layoffs and share her actionable vision for the future of the business. 

“Kate, we’re tired of empty words that change nothing and only lead to more cuts.”