ViacomCBS Lays Off 100 Staffers as Streamlining Continues

There have been multiple waves of cuts since Viacom and CBS merged last year

Bob Bakish of ViacomCBS
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ViacomCBS laid off an additional 100 staffers on Wednesday, further streamlining the two companies since their merge last year.

The cuts are across departments like finance, legal and technology where there were reductions, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. ViacomCBS declined to comment.

The layoffs are the latest in a string of them in 2020 that have been either due to the pandemic or to consolidate the two businesses. The last wave of layoffs came in June which affected dozens of New York staffers.

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. 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.

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 that time, two rounds of layoffs were planned for 2020.

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