San Francisco, March 3 : Tech news website CNET is doing extensive layoffs that include several long-time employees, the media reported. According to The Verge, the layoffs could hit around a dozen people, or about 10 per cent of the workforce. CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo will also step down from her role and become the senior vice president of AI content strategy and editor-at-large, the report noted, quoting a draft blog post by CNET. The layoffs were announced internally via email by Red Ventures, the private equity-backed marketing-turned-media company that bought CNET in 2020. "To prepare ourselves for a strong future, we will need to focus on how we simplify our operations and our tech stack, and also on how we invest our time and energy," wrote Carlos Angrisano, president of financial services and the CNET Group at Red Ventures. In January, Futurism reported that CNET published dozens of articles that were generated using AI tools. CNET paused the practice after public outcry and factual errors in stories. Several media outlets like The Washington Post, CNN, BuzzFeed, NPR, NBC News, MSNBC, Sports Illustrated and others have laid off employees in recent months. Amid the Big Tech layoff season, the media and entertainment industry worldwide has been hit with job cuts as advertisers reduce spending amid the global economic slowdown. /IANS