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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Warner Bros. Entertainment Cutting 800 Jobs

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. will eliminate about 10 percent of its worldwide workforce through layoffs, freezing positions and outsourcing. Company executives did not give a break down of the locations of the layoffs but The Associated Press reported that most would be from the Burbank headquarters. In a Jan. 20 memo to employees, Warner Bros. Entertainment Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer and President and COO Alan Horn called the cuts a difficult but necessary decision for stability and growth. “The changing entertainment business landscape, shifting consumer demand and the overall state of the economy have affected companies around the world, and Warner Bros. is not immune to these factors,” the memo said. Eight hundred jobs are expected to be lost in the coming weeks, with 300 from different departments at the studio; and 200 positions to remain unfilled. Another 300 positions doing management information system and accounts payable functions will be outsourced to an outside company, identified in some published reports as Capgemini. Capgemini has offices in Burbank not far from the Warner Bros. Studios. The cuts come following an otherwise impressive year for the company, with “The Dark Knight” having been the summer blockbuster and overall global ticket sales at $1.77 billion, up 25 percent from a year earlier.

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