New York (CNN) Some employees at HuffPost learned Thursday morning that their days in the newsroom are numbered, as layoffs hit the popular news website.

A spokesperson for HuffPost said the site is "investing its talents and resources to areas that have high audience engagement, differentiation and are poised for growth at a time when our mission means more than ever."

"We are deeply committed to quality journalism that reflects what matters most to our diverse audiences across the globe," the spokesperson said.

It's a significant setback for the progressive news website, a pioneer of the digital media landscape, which has become far less hospitable than it was in 2005, when HuffPost launched as The Huffington Post.

Now, economic headwinds are hitting newsrooms across the industry, affecting once-bullish digital shops and longstanding newspapers alike.

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