According to reports, the layoffs at ESPN continue, this time costing the jobs of 150 ESPN staffers, none of which are on-air talent.
Videos by FanBuzz
This is per Daniel Roberts of Yahoo, who reported in depth on the round of layoffs:
This time, none of the people getting cut are on-air talent. Instead, these layoffs will affect behind-the-scenes people in a wide range of departments, particularly studio production, digital content, and technology.
ESPN is looking to cut about $100 million in costs, though that savings will come from a combination of staff cuts and other business changes. A little more than half of the 150 people are based at headquarters in Bristol, Conn
As Roberts mentioned, this round of cuts comes seven months after a high profile layoff period at ESPN that took the jobs of many recognizable names and on-air talent.
ESPN President John Skipper released a memo both to his company and the public, explaining the cold and calculated move:
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.
Just in time for the holidays, this is terrible news for the 150 staffers who will now find themselves without jobs. Of course, having ESPN on their resume should give them a leg-up on the job market, but the timing of this layoff couldn't be any worse.
ESPN is still known as the worldwide leader in sports, but with the rise of social media, blogging, podcasting and other networks, it has become far from the only way to receive sports content on a daily basis.
Apparently, that has impacted the bottom line more than we realized.
