ViacomCBS Laid Off Dozens More Last Month, 672 Jobs Shed in New York This Year (Exclusive)

ViacomCBS laid off dozens of New York staffers in June as job cuts at the recombined entertainment giant continued. The latest headcount reduction tallied losses of “mid-double digits,” a person with knowledge of the layoffs told TheWrap. Like previous rounds of staff cuts, the June pink slips came at multiple divisions within the publicly traded company. The layoffs are part of integration efforts involved in bringing two separate entities together, the individual said. According to an amended June 24 filing with the New York Department of Labor, ViacomCBS has cut a total of 672 jobs in the state so far this year. It’s unclear how many jobs the company has shed in California. A Viacom spokesperson declined to comment on this story. Viacom International shed an additional 76 staffers since the company’s April 29 filing with New York state, bringing the division’s total losses to 346. CBS Television Stations cut 73 employees, on top of the 19 previously announced. Nearly half of the 2020 New York reductions came in May, when the company laid off 300 workers, including 75 from the CBS News division. Counted among that journalism group were “senior producers and reporters at top shows,” a person with knowledge of the May layoffs told TheWrap back then. ViacomCBS’ jobs losses extended beyond the news division. In April, the company let go Sarah Babineau, head of content and creative enterprises at Comedy Central, as well as Smithsonian Networks president Tom Hayden. ViacomCBS eliminated more than 100 employees in late February. At the time, two rounds of layoffs were planned for 2020. Viacom and CBS officially re-merged in late December 2019. ViacomCBS stock has nearly halved in value since then, though shares have recovered a bit from the drop associated with the earliest days of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic. The companies announced their long-awaited merger, valuing their combined assets at roughly $12 billion at the time, last summer. Then, they expected $750 million in synergy savings by getting rid of overlapping corporate operations, as well as other savings. Viacom and CBS were previously one company, Viacom, until splitting in 2005. In addition to its television and film businesses (including Paramount Pictures), ViacomCBS owns mixed-martial arts league Bellator MMA and publishing house Simon & Schuster. ViacomCBS has been trying to unload Simon & Schuster for months now.