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At least 600 people were told they would leave AT & T’s WarnerMedia on Monday as massive layoffs began as part of a restructuring led by new Chief Executive Officer Jason Kilar, according to reports.
A spokesman for WarnerMedia did not immediately return FOX Business’ request for comment.
The move comes on the heels of an executive shakeup Friday, with Bob Greenblatt of WarnerMedia and Kevin Reilly, who oversee the company’s streaming service HBO Max, forced out.
“We are elevating HBO Max in the organization and expanding its scope worldwide,” Kilar said in a memo to staff. “I want to thank Bob and Kevin for getting us to this point with the integration of HBO and the legacy Turner Networks and the launch of HBO Max. It has been such an impressive sequence of events, and we are so much better for it. . “
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In that announcement, Kilar also warned dismissals would continue to the bottom line of WarnerMedia.
“Simplifying our approach and reducing our focus goes beyond, for example, having one content organization vs. two. It also means we will reduce the size of our teams, our layers, and our total workforce,” Kilar said. “These reductions are in no way a reflection of the quality of the people affected, nor of their work. It’s just a function of the above changes that I believe are necessary for WarnerMedia and our collective capacity. to best serve customers. “
Media companies are feeling the pain due to the shutdowns of the coronavirus pandemic. Warner’s film and TV studio have not been able to release any theatrical films or start new television productions. These developments have ruined advertising revenue, cash holdings and content sales for the media giant.
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Revenue from the WarnerMedia segment, which includes HBO, fell 22.7% to $ 6.8 billion in the second quarter, with the pandemic affecting $ 1.5 billion in sales.
“I realize this is a lot to take in. And not one of us should expect the above changes to be easy,” Kilar added. That said, we are successfully navigating a pandemic together and I know that, no matter how challenging the above changes may be, we are also navigating them successfully. While each of you is taking some time to overcome the above, I hope you become more and more motivated by how, together, we boldly move into the future and this historic opportunity that lies just ahead of us. “
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