LEAKED messages have revealed Buzzfeed staff argued about bringing dogs into the office amid sweeping layoffs.

Workers begged the news outlet's CEO Jonah Peretti to bring in emotional support animals after revelations 15 per cent of staff would be losing their jobs in the coming week.

8 Jonah Peretti jumped on the idea of bringing dogs into the office to help staff Credit: Getty - Contributor

And while Peretti vowed "we will do it" - other disgruntled members of staff pointed out: "dogs won't save us from this hell."

The layoffs will see about 220 people cut across multiple divisions, including the newsroom. It is unclear whether the cuts will affect the UK arm of the company.

The messages, exposed by Splinternews, were posted on a dedicated Slack channel that allows employees to flag concerns with their CEO.

In one of the posts, one employee wrote: "IMO (In my opinion) now is probably a good time to bring therapy puppies in for every office."

And another added: "I'd love if on Monday we could bring in our own small dogs and have one room designated for them for a couple hours so everyone can enjoy some pup love to mitigate stress.

"Some of us have to come in on Monday just to hear our fate and have ESA dogs that could help not only us but our colleagues. Give it a think."

Peretti was quick to jump on the suggestion, saying it was a "good idea".

Employees then started to organise how the plan would work, suggesting only small, social dogs should be brought in.

Yet others were less than impressed with the suggestion.

CEO: 'IT REALLY SUCKS'

In one message, one employee said: "Nothing is more Buzzfeed than collectively being distracted by the promise of dogs during a brutal mass layoff."

Another pointed out: "Hi, I just want to bring the conversation back on track here: this is not about the dogs. we have human concerns about these layoffs."

A third added: "yeah tbh can we not have the dogs."

During the chat, another said: "I can’t imagine people walking out of meetings where they’ve just been laid off to the sound of people laughing in the dog room."

In the communications with staff, CEO Peretti tried to calm the concern around the substantial cuts.

He said: "This experience is heartbreaking for everyone involved, especially people losing their jobs.

"We had people up until 4am last night trying to accelerate the process and meet with as many people as possible before the weekend.

I just want to bring the conversation back on track here: this is not about the dogs. We have human concerns about these layoffs Buzzfeed employee

"The contingency plan for leaks was to accelerate but we simply weren't ready and didn't want to rush so quickly that we make mistakes.

"None of the conversations happening today were even planned for this week and it took a real effort to move this forward to limit the waiting for many employees.

"Unfortunately the entire process won't be done until next week, I wish this wasn't the case but it is.

"I know this is resulting in additional anxiety and stress, we are trying to mitigate as much as possible. It really sucks and I'm sorry."

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The lay offs come after Buzzfeed cut 100 jobs in 2017.

In the past decade, hundreds of millions has been raised from investors for Buzzfeed.

Staff were told revenue had grown but that the cuts were being made to secure its financial future.

8 Workers suggested being able to bring dogs into Buzzfeed offices Credit: Splinter News

8 Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti tried to calm staff as news of the cuts were made public Credit: Splinter News

8 Peretti said he understood it was 'heartbreaking for everyone involved' Credit: Splinter News

8 One staff member said 'nothing was more Buzzfeed' than being distracted by the dogs Credit: Splinter News

8 While some said they didn't want the dogs, plans started to be put in place Credit: Splinter News

8 Some staff were concerned about the cost of the dogs Credit: Splinter News

8 One staff member said the situation was 'unnecessarily cruel' Credit: Splinter News