ESPN Drops Axe On 150 Employees

Exactly seven months after ESPN cut more than 100 employees, the sports network is making another round of cuts, this one bigger. ESPN is letting go of 150 people beginning on Wednesday, Yahoo Finance is reporting.

This is a significantly larger number than initially reported by other outlets in the past few weeks. But it amounts to less than 2% of ESPN’s 8,000 employees.

The last round of cuts, in April, affected almost entirely on-air personalities — people recognizable to television viewers and radio listeners.

This time, none of the people getting cut are on-air talent. Instead, these layoffs will affect behind-the-scenes people in a wide range of departments, particularly studio production, digital content, and technology.

ESPN is looking to cut about $100 million in costs, though that savings will come from a combination of staff cuts and other business changes. A little more than half of the 150 people are based at headquarters in Bristol, Conn.

In a short memo to ESPN employees posted Wednesday morning, ESPN president John Skipper said that the 150 cuts, “generally reflect decisions to do less in certain instances and re-direct resources.”

Skipper noted that the laid-off employees will still receive their 2017 bonuses.