San Francisco’s Wired.com, the online arm of Wired magazine, on Tuesday cut its staff by 10 percent, CNET.com reports. Most of the cuts came outside of editorial however. Out of 28 editorial positions, 3 employees were laid off, CNET said it was told by sources, and none of them were staff writers.

But Silicon Valley Insider said seven editorial staffers were laid off along with “many more freelancers.” The Insider quoted one source as saying:

People are being called into a meeting at SF office and told they are being let go. People being told that “unexpected cutbacks” require pink slipping writers, editors.

CNET quoted Wired.com editor in chief Evan Hansen as saying the layoffs were in preparation for the economic downturn.