Ellina Abovian, a general assignment reporter for popular Los Angeles station KTLA, was one of several on-air team members impacted by the layoffs

Ellina Abovian attends the 66th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards at the Biltmore Los Angeles on June 23, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Credit : Amanda Edwards/Getty

Several members of KLTA on-air talent have just been laid off, including one reporter who learned about the layoff shortly before her 40th birthday.

Among those laid off by Nexstar, which owns the CW affiliate, were meteorologists Mark Kriski and Kacey Montoya, midday anchors Lu Parker and Glen Walker and general assignment reporter Ellina Abovian, Deadline and Los Angeles Magazine reported on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Abovian, a single mom of two, tells PEOPLE she was “blindsided” when she learned about the layoff as her 40th birthday loomed.

In fact, the reporter marked her birthday on Instagram the same day the news went public.

“I gave 11 years of my life to this station and it hurts. That’s all I can say,” Abovian says, noting that she cannot comment on why the decision was made.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Nexstar said the company “does not comment on personnel issues, but the Company is taking steps necessary to compete effectively in this period of unprecedented change.”

KTLA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Abovian says the layoff has had a significant impact on both her and her colleagues — including Kriski, an eight-time local Emmy winner whom Abovian calls a “legend.”

“These are trusted names and faces for not just a few months, but decades,” she tells PEOPLE. “They were a part of people’s lives, and I felt that.”

“It hurts because I was part of a noble profession of telling people’s stories, and that was taken from me,” she says.

Still, Abovian tells PEOPLE she is “really grateful” for KTLA’s viewers, as well as everyone she worked with at the station.

“They were my family,” she adds, “and they’re always going to be my family.”

The layoffs at KTLA come as its owner, Nexstar, seeks a merger with Tenga, according to Deadline.

SAG-AFTRA criticized Nexstar in a separate statement for its decision to eliminate union jobs, calling the decision to cut local newsroom jobs “particularly troubling,” according to Los Angeles Magazine.

“By laying off journalists across the country, Nexstar is eroding the resources and talent that local communities rely on for trusted news,” said President Sean Astin.

Abovian tells PEOPLE she is still “processing” the layoff, even as she celebrated her birthday on Wednesday. “I blew out my candles last night with my 9-year-old son sitting next to me,” she explains, “and I’m trying to explain it to him what it means when life happens.”

The reporter also feels for viewers, especially those who may be “going through the same thing” in their lives.

“At the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to make a living to take care of our families,” she says. “And to anyone else who’s navigating uncertainty in their lives right now, just hold the people you love very closely and always believe that tomorrow’s another day.”