Massive ESPN Layoffs Will Affect 500 Jobs, Richard Deitsch Reports

Massive layoffs are set to hit ESPN, affecting close to 500 jobs. Approximately 300 employees will be let go and 200 open positions won’t be filled.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch first reported Wednesday afternoon that ESPN would announce layoffs this week, possibly as early as Thursday. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro told employees Thursday morning that the company’s workforce would be cut.

“Prior to the pandemic, we had been deeply engaged in strategizing how best to position ESPN for future success amidst tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports,” Pitaro said in a company memo. “The pandemic’s significant impact on our business clearly accelerated those forward-looking discussions. In the short term, we enacted various steps like executive and talent salary reductions, furloughs and budget cuts, and we implemented innovative operations and production approaches, all in an effort to weather the COVID storm.

“We have, however, reached an inflection point. The speed at which change is occurring requires great urgency, and we must now deliver on serving sports fans in a myriad of new ways. Placing resources in support of our direct-to-consumer business strategy, digital, and, of course, continued innovative television experiences, is more critical than ever.”

There have been major ESPN layoffs a couple of times over the last several years. About 300 employees were laid off in October 2015, accounting for close to 5% of the company’s employees, according to Deitsch. About 100 ESPN reporters were laid off in April 2017.

ESPN has approximately 6,000 employees in total, 4,000 of which are located at its headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

On Sept. 29, Disney, ESPN’s parent company, said it was forced to lay off 28,000 employees company-wide because of the effect the pandemic had on Disney theme parks.