Layoffs are related to the company's low sales.
As Chris Cocks, CEO of the company, stated in a letter to employees of the corporation, sales of physical toys turned out to be less than expected in the first nine months of the year.
Management believes that sales will remain at an unsatisfactory level in the New Year period. Moreover, the current problems will remain relevant for Hasbro next year.
Layoffs at the company, which owns, among other things, the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering universe, as well as producing physical toys based on Star Wars and Transformers, were announced a couple of weeks before Christmas. The latter, as a rule, accounts for half of the company's sales.
For Hasbro, the current reduction is the second in a year. In January last year, the corporation announced plans to optimize 15% of the staff (about 800 people). At the end of 2022, the company had 6,500 employees. In January 2024, they may already be in the area of 4,600 (in fact, everything is more complicated, someone will be notified within 24 hours after the announcement, but mostly the cuts will be gradual, six months are allotted for their implementation).
The company's management believes that layoffs will save $100 million next year. At the same time, she will be obliged to pay severance payments in the region of $ 40 million.