A Massive Media Company Is Now Laying Off 800 Employees

February 13, 2024

A massive media company is now laying off 800 employees following the announcement of record breaking super bowl ratings.

Paramount Global announced Tuesday it is laying off about 800 employees, or roughly 3% of its workforce, according to a person familiar with the matter, reports CNBC.

Paramount Global, which owns CBS, said Monday that the network set record highs for Super Bowl viewership.

The company is laying off several hundreds of employees, just one day after the company announced CBS had record Super Bowl viewership, Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish said Tuesday in an internal memo to employees.

Affected workers will be notified Tuesday, Bakish said in the note.

“These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead — and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” Bakish wrote in the note.

Paramount Global owns a variety of assets including CBS, Paramount Pictures, Pluto TV, Paramount+ and cable networks including Nickelodeon, BET and Comedy Central.

The job cuts come as the media company considers merger and acquisition options.

Paramount Global has held early merger talks with Skydance Media and Warner Bros. Discovery in recent months, CNBC has previously reported.

The media company had warned employees of impending cuts in a Jan. 25 internal memo.

Bakish said at the time that Paramount Global needs to “operate as a leaner company and spend less.”

Paramount+ streaming service continues to lose money each quarter.

The platform lost $238 million in the third quarter.

The company will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday February 28th.

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Also Read: A New Wave of Unexpected Layoffs Now Hits California

Other Economy News Today

A beloved clothing retailer is now at high risk of bankruptcy as the company looks for new financing due to widening losses.

The Children’s Place — which owns and operates The Children’s Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and PJ Place brands — is working with advisors and lenders to find new financing as it projects a wider loss than initially expected in its Q4 for fiscal 2023, which ended Jan. 28, 2023, reports Retail Touch Points.

The company is now projecting sales for the quarter of $454 to $456 million, down from prior guidance of $460 to $465 million.

Adjusted operating loss for the quarter is expected to be higher than anticipated, in the range of 9% to 8% of net sales, where prior guidance projected losses of just 2% to 3% of net sales.

The company blamed lower than expected margins following aggressive holiday promotions in the fourth quarter as well as higher than anticipated split shipments for ecommerce orders and increased inventory valuation adjustments.

Children’s Place does expect to end its fiscal year in a clean inventory position, with inventory expected to be down 16% to 20% from the prior year.

The company’s total liquidity as of Feb. 3, 2024 is expected to be approximately $45 million.

As previously anticipated, total indebtedness is expected to decrease by more than $100 million in Q4 versus Q3 of fiscal 2023 from $408 million as of the end of the third quarter to approximately $277 million at the end of Q4.

However, the company, which operates 500 stores in North America, said it is already actively working with its advisors, including Centerview Partners, as well as current and potential lenders to obtain new financing in order to support ongoing operations.

If new financing is not secured, the company said it will consider other strategic alternatives.

Bankruptcy often times provides companies with a financial restructuring plan when all other strategies fail.

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Also Read: A US Company Now Declares An Unexpected Bankruptcy

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