According to Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to reduce its expenses and save money by laying off more employees this week. The film and television industry is currently experiencing instability and financial difficulties. Because of this, many companies are reducing their workforce by letting employees go. As exemplified by Warner Bros. Discovery, these layoffs continue to occur everywhere in the industry.
As reported by Deadline, employees are being informed that they are losing their jobs throughout Warner Bros. Discovery, including at Max, a streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and in departments related to production, business affairs and finance.
Interestingly enough, this is occurring a year after layoffs that caused many network executives to exit the cable sector. Additionally, just last week, approximately 100 employees were laid off at CNN, a news network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. According to Mark Thompson, the CEO of CNN Worldwide, around 3% of 3,500 employees were affected by the layoffs.
Inside knowledge accessed by Deadline claims that this round of layoffs is much smaller than previous ones and will affect only a few people in various departments. Employees will be notified about these layoffs starting today and continuing throughout the week.
It’s important to note that Warner Bros. Discovery is not the only company in the industry experiencing layoffs right now. Other companies are also letting employees go. Paramount is planning additional layoffs to save money before it is acquired by Skydance, owned by David Ellison (Top Gun: Maverick, The Big Door Prize). This follows previous layoff of about 800 employees earlier in the year, Deadline reports. Disney also anticipates reducing its workforce in the next few months.
Many major companies in the entertainment industry, including Amazon, Netflix, NBCUniversal, YouTube, Roku, Sony, Marvel and several others, have laid off employees this year. The extent of these layoffs has led one veteran TV executive to describe the situation as “a full-scale depression for the entertainment industry,” indicating a severe and widespread downturn.