Exclusive | Wedding giant The Knot Worldwide cuts 4% of workforce in restructuring

Knot Worldwide cut about 4% of its global workforce this week as part of an internal restructuring at the wedding planning giant, The Post has learned.

Approximately 100 employees were laid off in The Knot’s sales and marketing teams, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company began notifying affected workers on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for The Knot confirmed the job cuts and said the move was part of an effort to shift resources to key business priorities, such as helping the wedding industry vendor community, rather than a sign of trouble. financial in the close firm.

“Over the past several months, we have taken significant steps to better understand customer needs and thoroughly evaluate our business,” the spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “It’s become clear that we must innovate at an even greater speed to increase value for our users, vendors and partners.”

“As a result, we are making proactive changes to our Sales and Marketing departments to better align our operating model with the small businesses we serve,” the spokesperson added.

The layoffs come as The Knot — whose network of businesses includes WeddingWire, WeddingPro, Hitched and The Bump, among others — tries to repair its relationship with disgruntled vendors after allegations last year that it used questionable marketing practices. sales to secure advertising dollars from businesses that don’t have it. alternatives to advertising their services, as The Post reported.

Affected workers received severance packages and access to job services, according to the company.

“While we understand that change can be challenging, we believe this transformation will open up new opportunities to elevate our platform and improve the benefits we provide to our users, vendors and partners,” the spokesperson said.

The Knot is planning to roll out a number of new products for users and local wedding vendors, including the launch of a free and low-cost advertising tier for small business owners by the first quarter of 2025, the spokesperson added. .

Last month, The Knot Worldwide unveiled a revamped platform for vendors such as pastry chefs, official photographers and videographers.

The company touted improvements such as “powered showcase enhancements” that help select photos and generate text summaries that small business owners can use to attract users.

It remains to be seen whether the improvements will please the wedding industry professionals who make up a large part of her business.

As The Post exclusively reported last month, The Knot’s quiet acquisition of small wedding booking platform Simply Eloped earlier this year raised concerns among some business owners that the controversial firm is gaining too much control over the wedding industry. wedding planning.

“They’re trying to buy as much of our industry as they can,” a concerned wedding industry consultant and former Knot advertiser said at the time. “They seem to want to control the narrative, and that’s always a scary feeling.”