Sports media giant ESPN is tightening its belt a bit, according to reports. ESPN could be laying off 400 or more employees, said a tipster in a Deadspin.com article, in the company's first major staff cut since 2009.
An official statement from ESPN reads, "We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive."
Deadspin further reports that ESPN's technology staff could be the hardest hit department, losing up to 40 employees. A source familiar with the situation said the affected employees will be allowed to work through the week if they choose to do so.
A laid-off employee relayed this message to Deadspin: "I was laid off from ESPN today after 9 and a half years. Completely out of the blue, no warning at all. I was told it was 10% across the board, which would be roughly 400. I was told the reason was they needed to make their profit margin and they chose to do that via layoff of staff."
A little less than 20 minutes later, that staffer messaged Deadspin again saying, "Btw.....we were told that the layoffs ARE tied to the profit margin that ESPN needs to meet and the fact they haven't met that number. Your comments about them buying all of these live rights and now needed to reduce overhead costs is dead on.
The comments being referred to by the disgruntled former staffer said the cost-cutting is a result of ESPN's aggressive snapping up of live coverage rights to top-flight events; additionally, parent company Disney has reportedly asked all divisions to cut their costs.
ESPN is also opening up a brand new building that will be the home of Sportscenter; the new Sportscenter set is gigantic and the building itself, called Digital Center 2, will cost upwards of $125 million to build.
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