The Penny Hoarder cuts staff

The Penny Hoarder has laid off some of its workers.

The St. Petersburg-based personal finance website confirmed the layoffs, which were initially reported on social media Wednesday morning. It did not say how many people were let go or the size of the staff that remains.

“We’ve had to make difficult decisions to better position and reorganize ourselves for the future, including the reduction of our team,” Kyle Taylor, founder and CEO, said in a statement. “It’s no secret that the media industry is in a state of great change. We’ve made choices to better position ourselves for the future. We have full confidence in our continued ability to serve our audience and grow our business.”

See the full statement below.

The company had 82 employees and $36.9 million in 2017 revenue when it was listed on the 2018 Inc. 5000. Its three-year growth of 861 percent put it at the No. 581 spot on the list.

Pinellas County and St. Petersburg officials celebrated the company’s growth in November 2017, when The Penny Hoarder moved into 23,000 square feet on the top floor of the Tampa Bay Times building in downtown St. Pete.

Under an April 2017 Qualified Target Industries agreement with the city and county, The Penny Hoarder said it planned to add 165 jobs, paying an average annual wage of at least $66,098, and in exchange was in line for up to $990,000 in tax refunds over six years. No tax refunds have been issued to date, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity.

Lisa Rowan, a senior report and on-air analyst at The Penny Hoarder, left the publication recently, according to Talking Biz News, but it’s unclear if that’s related to the layoffs.

Taylor founded The Penny Hoarder in 2010, originally as a personal blog, and has funded its growth without debt. Here’s his full statement:

“The Penny Hoarder has always been an independent, bootstrapped company, and we intend for it to continue to be. We’ve had to make difficult decisions to better position and reorganize ourselves for the future, including the reduction of our team.

It’s no secret that the media industry is in a state of great change. We’ve made choices to better position ourselves for the future. We have full confidence in our continued ability to serve our audience and grow our business.

Our primary focus right now is to take care of our team members both who have exited, and those who remain. We’re committed to ensuring these talented individuals have every opportunity to land on their feet. The Penny Hoarder is offering severance benefits and outplacement services to help make personal transitions as smooth as possible.”