Hasbro to cut 1,100 jobs as weak toy sales persist

Hasbro, the toy maker behind popular brands like Peppa Pig, Transformers and Magic: The Gathering, said Monday it would cut about 1,110 jobs, or nearly 17 percent of its workforce, as the company continued to grapple with sales. weak.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks he said in a memo to staff Monday that “the market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned.”

The layoffs, announced during the critical holiday shopping season, follow an 800-job reduction at the company earlier this year; The toy maker said it expected most of the latest cuts to take place over the next six months, and the rest over the next year.

“We anticipated the first three quarters would be challenging, particularly in toys, where the market is coming off pandemic-driven all-time highs,” Cocks said in the memo. “While we have made some important progress across our organization, the headwinds we saw during the first nine months of the year continued into the holidays and are likely to persist into 2024.”

In your third trimester Profits In the report, the company had noted that lower plush toy sales would hurt its prospects, noting that overall revenue was expected to fall 13 to 15 percent for the year.

Shares of the company, based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, fell about 5.7 percent in after-hours trading. The stock, which closed Monday at $48.89, is down nearly 19 percent over the past year.

Cocks also said the company would continue to explore its options to “reduce its real estate footprint” and would close its office in Providence, Rhode Island, after its lease ended in January 2025.