How is it possible that one of the most successful women in the television industry had to lay off 30 positions between Los Angeles and New York? Oprah’s OWN Network was seemingly the “Tyler Perry” of media jobs–creating dozens of jobs for television behind-the-scenes big wigs. However, with OWN’s disappointing ratings, job security at the Oprah compound has become something that’s not set in stone the way one would assume.
When I was a little girl, I made it a goal of mine to work for Oprah. That woman had the Midas Touch and it was amazing watching everything around her triumph. However, with passion and ambition, Oprah created OWN–a network we all thought would save the world or at the very least, create tons of jobs. While OWN has been able to make waves, it’s starting the flail.
Here’s three reasons working for Oprah isn’t the best job ever.
1. In the case of working for Oprah means you work for Rosie, then you’re stuck working for “a f*cking hellhole,’ says one former staffer according to The Daily Beast. Not only is Rosie a nightmare to work for, but the show was so bad (as it was supposed to help save OWN) that it was cancelled. Staffers found out only mere hours before a press release announced the show’s demise. Most employers want you to give them a two week’s notice before your departure, so they should give the same courtesy, no?
2. Laying off 30 employees from New York to Los Angeles means that the employees that are left are set to pick up the slack. That’s sure to be fun for Oprah’s employees. Now instead of happily walking around the office, thinking they may get a new car or random trip to Australia at any moment, they’re inundated with more work and worried over whether this day is their last with the company.
3. Working with an entire network that knows it’s only alive because Oprah revamped the programming to technically resurrect her Oprah show as “Oprah’s Next Chapter” has got to put the fear of God in the folks at OWN. One show carrying an entire network? That’s not ideal.
Would you want to work for Oprah at this point? Let’s discuss on Twitter @Rhapsodani.
