Time Inc. announced a 6 percent layoff, or 500 jobs, in an email from the company's CEO to its employees on Wednesday.

CEO Laura Lang said in a memo to staff today that 6 percent of the company's 8,000 employees have to go in the struggle to be a "leaner, more nimble and more innately multi-platform" publisher. The company is already down some 4,000 people in the last five years.

The company, a division of Time Warner, is one of the largest media companies worldwide and includes titles such as Time, People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle. 

"In a memo to his staff, Larry Hackett, editor in chief of People magazine, said that he was seeking nine volunteers to accept severance packages," the Times said. "According to the memo, he specifically was looking for three writers and six reporters or researchers to volunteer to take packages."