Hasbro lays off over 1000 employees as a cost-cutting measure due to poor 2023 Holiday sales

But why enforce these layoffs so close to the Christmas through New Year period? The Hasbro CEO had this to say:

"We entered 2023 expecting a year of change including significant updates to our leadership team, structure, and scope of operations. We anticipated the first three quarters to be challenging, particularly in Toys, where the market is coming off historic, pandemic-driven highs. While we have made some important progress across our organization, the headwinds we saw through the first nine months of the year have continued into Holiday and are likely to persist into 2024."

Cocks added:

"To position Hasbro for growth, we must first make sure our foundation is solid and profitable. To do that, we need to modernize our organization and get even leaner."

The rest of the memo from the Hasbro CEO laid out the other actions being taken, including job placement support, revising the company's organizational model, and exiting the Providence, Rhode Island office by 2025. The Hasbro employees affected by the layoffs will be informed over the course of the next 6 months.

Hasbro's decision of sacking around 15% to 20% of its workforce during the Christmas 2023 season seems reasonable, given these details Cocks stated. However, the announcement and execution could have been set at a better time. Plus, a series of layoffs already occurred earlier in 2023, which would actually bring the total closer to 2 thousand employees.

Both current and past Hasbro employees, as well as fans of brands like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: the Gathering, have taken to social media to express their thoughts on the layoffs.

Most of the non-Hasbro employee reactions were to express their empathy for the affected workforce, but others directly criticized the company for the harsh timing and unfair treatment of the sacked Hasbro employees.

Hasbro's subsidiary Wizards of the Coast is looking at 2024 as a big year for its signature brands. Dungeons & Dragons will be celebrating the tabletop roleplaying game's 50th anniversary and the release of One D&D. Meanwhile, Magic: The Gathering will be expanding its popular Universes Beyond crossovers with blockbuster video game properties such as Fallout and Assassin's Creed. How will these layoffs impact these events and product releases?