I thought Deadline reported that the layoffs would stop sometime before this holiday season?
So the plan is probably still on to be done by then, but I'm not surprised if it doesn't finish until the end of the year, given how many departments there are in the company.
This was the original intention:
"According to several sources, the rolling reductions will begin with smaller groups between Monday and Labor Day, followed by a ramp-up in bloodletting in September and October, with a goal of finishing before Halloween. Marketing, P.R., distribution, the already-impacted sales group, finance, legal, and yes, creative; most departments will be at least touched by the axe, according to one source. The Discovery people, used to the razor-thin staffing of reality TV, continue to be surprised by the level of “bloat” on the Warner side, even after all the AT&T cuts, so the heaviest impact will be suffered there. HBO will gut its unscripted group; Turner and Discovery sports units will be integrated under new leader
Luis Silberwasser; engineers and tech backend employees will be redundant; etc. There isn’t a set headcount number—Zaslav and his hooded executioner (C.F.O.
Gunnar Wiedenfels) have instead set cost reduction targets. They’re substantial, and the recent lowering of the company’s financial projections amid recession talk has increased the reduction goals, I’m told. The exact timing and plans are being determined by individual business leaders, and I talked to one such leader, who described the reductions as “painful” and “to the bone.” I’m withholding the names of vulnerable people I’ve either confirmed are leaving or heard may be out because most of them are not in powerful positions and some names are in flux.
One name that seems almost certain to exit, although perhaps not imminently, is
Walter Hamada, the embattled head of DC. New Warners film chiefs
Mike De Luca and
Pam Abdy have been making it
very known that they want Hamada to stay, even as
Kim Masters revealed on Friday that Hamada threatened to quit over the dumpster-tossing of his
Batgirl movie and only agreed to remain on through October’s
Black Adam. I get why De Luca and Abdy want Walt to stay; he’s got skills and institutional knowledge, yes, but he also currently reports to them, and a new DC leader—assuming Zaslav can find somebody, which is a
big if—might negotiate for a direct or dotted line to the C.E.O. Keeping Hamada in place keeps control of the DC slate with De Luca and Abdy. "
The rolling reductions will begin with smaller groups between Monday and Labor Day, followed by a ramp-up in bloodletting in September and October.
puck.news
www.businessinsider.com
www.hollywoodreporter.com
deadline.com
variety.com
