Hasbro to Cut 900 Positions as Toy Industry Headwinds Continue

Toy company Hasbro will be laying off another 900 people, about a year after saying it would eliminate 1,000 positions from its global workforce.

The latest job cuts will be made over the next 18 to 24 months, Hasbro said in a Monday (Dec. 11) filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“On December 11, 2023, following a further review of the company’s cost structure and organizational design, the company announced additional strategic steps to position the business for further growth, including a revised organizational structure whereby certain corporate functions are anticipated to be supported by a third-party outsourcing provider as well as additional headcount reductions under the Operational Excellence Program,” Hasbro said in the filing.

The Operational Excellence Program, which was launched after an earlier strategic review in October 2022, is an initiative that includes targeted cost savings, supply chain transformation and other restructuring actions, according to the filing.

As part of the program, Hasbro announced 1,000 job cuts in January, which equaled about 15% of the company’s global workforce at the time, the filing said.

Announcing the latest cuts in an update sent to employees and included in the SEC filing, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said that in the year since the previous job cuts, “the market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned.”

“While we’re confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make,” Cocks wrote in the update.

The company anticipated the first three quarters of 2023 to be challenging as the market came off pandemic-driven highs but has now seen the headwinds continue into the holiday season and expects them to continue into 2024, Cocks wrote.

Hasbro cautioned in late October that the holiday season might be lackluster, reflecting a trend of cautious consumer spending during this critical period for retailers.

This sentiment echoed that of rival toy manufacturer Mattel, PYMNTS reported at the time. Consumers have been diverting their budgets to meet essential household expenses in response to escalating prices.