ESPN
ESPN continues its systematic dismantling of its current business structure, as ESPN President John Skipper announced in a memo to its staff that 150 employees with have their jobs vacated. The mass casualty layoff comes months after ESPN laid off 100 employees as part of a “company-wide restructuring” aimed to recalibrate its staff for consumers who prefer to stream content on mobile devices.
The memo from John Skipper to his employees reads:
ESPN’s subscriber base has shrunk to 88 million subscribers in the U.S, Disney disclosed in a recent annual report, compared with 100 million at a peak in 2010.
Today we are informing approximately 150 people at ESPN that their jobs are being eliminated.
We appreciate their contributions, and will assist them as much as possible in this difficult moment with severance, a 2017 bonus, the continuation of health benefits and outplacement services. They will also appreciate your support.
The majority of the jobs eliminated are in studio production, digital content, and technology and they generally reflect decisions to do less in certain instances and re-direct resources.
We will continue to invest in ways which will best position us to serve the modern sports fan and support the success of our business.
John
According to Variety, “ESPN’s subscriber base has shrunk to 88 million subscribers in the U.S, Disney disclosed in a recent annual report, compared with 100 million at a peak in 2010.”
Between the two massive layoffs in April and today, more than three percent of ESPN’s entire workforce got torched, Deadspin reports.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Or something.
[h/t Deadspin]