Toy and entertainment giant Hasbro is cutting a significant amount of jobs, citing a softer market for toys. Hasbro said in an SEC filing that it conducted a “further review” of its cost structure and organization design, and it is shedding 900 jobs as a result. Hasbro said this will include both voluntary early retirement and layoffs, which are due to be completed in the next 18-24 months.
This move comes after Hasbro announced a cost-savings effort in October 2022 and announced a plan to eliminate about 1,000 jobs, which works out to about 15% of the company’s total workforce. Hasbro said it expected to spend more than $94 million for severance, stock compensation, and employee benefits related to those cuts. The 900 job losses announced today bring the total number of cuts to 1,900, with a further $40 million in expenses related to the cuts.
According to Reuters, Hasbro employed around 6,500 people at the end of 2022. The 1,900 layoffs work out to around 29% of the company’s total workforce.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said in a memo to staff, “While we’re confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make.”
Cocks added: “Our leadership team came to this difficult decision after much deliberation. We recognize this is heavy news that affects the livelihoods of our friends and colleagues.”
The executive said Hasbro’s business flourished during the pandemic, when people were staying home and playing all sorts of games in their houses. However, Cocks said “headwinds” are expected to persist through this holiday and into 2024.
“To position Hasbro for growth, we must first make sure our foundation is solid and profitable. To do that, we need to modernize our organization and get even leaner. While we see workforce reductions as a last resort, given the state of our business, it’s a lever we must pull to keep Hasbro healthy,” Cocks said.
Hasbro also confirmed that it is closing its Providence, Rhode Island office when the lease expires in January 2025. Teams from that Providence office will have an opportunity to relocate to Hasbro’s main headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Looking ahead, Cocks said Hasbro aims to grow its business in the future through “supply chain efficiency,” direct-to-consumer programs, and “key partnerships” for licensing.
Among other things, Hasbro owns the Dungeons & Dragons series through its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary. Hasbro is also known for the Transformers franchise, as well as the board games Scrabble, Monopoly, Clue, and more. In the video game world, Baldur’s Gate III is based on D&D, while Payday developer Starbreeze is making an official D&D multiplayer game as one of its next projects.
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