Hasbro to cut 15 percent of workforce, about 1,000 jobs

Toy and gaming giant Hasbro will cut 15 percent of its global workforce in an effort to cut costs and shake up its business model.

The company announced the layoffs after underperforming in the fourth quarter and reporting a 9 percent decline in year-over-year revenue for 2022.

Hasbro said its Wizards of the Coast division, which publishes the popular Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game, continued to perform well. But its consumer products division struggled over the holidays amid weak demand for toys and apparel. 

“We are focused on implementing transformational changes aimed at substantially reducing costs and increasing our growth rates and profitability,” Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said in a statement.

Hasbro will “focus on fewer, bigger brands; gaming; digital; and our rapidly growing direct to consumer and licensing businesses,” Cocks said. 

As part of the job cuts, Hasbro President and COO Eric Nyman will step down. The layoffs and other organizational changes aim to save the company up to $300 million over the next few years.

Hasbro’s stock tumbled roughly 4 percent on Friday morning.

The layoffs could be a warning sign that consumers are slowing their spending after an extended period of red-hot inflation hit Americans’ wallets. Consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in December, higher than analyst estimates, according to Commerce Department data released Friday. 

Hasbro joins numerous tech sector giants, including Google, Amazon and Microsoft, in announcing mass layoffs. IBM this week said it would cut 3,900 jobs, while SAP said it would lay off around 2,800 employees.