Hasbro, Owner of Wizards of the Coast, Announces A Massive Round Of Layoffs, Its Second This Year

Hasbro, the toy company that currently owns the rights to Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, has announced a sweeping round of layoffs affecting over 1,000 of its employees. The announcement comes via an internal memo just two weeks before Christmas.

According to CEO Chris Cocks, the layoffs are in response to the “headwinds” that the company has been facing over the past year and expected to persist into 2024. Roughly 1,100 employees are planned to be dismissed across its global offices, adding to the 800 or so that lost their jobs at the top of the year.

“I know this news is especially difficult during the holiday season, there is no sugar-coating how hard this is, particularly for the employees directly affected,” the CEO wrote. He, however, maintains that it was necessary to “keep Hasbro healthy”, although he does note that the layoffs will be happening in phases and that most of the affected employees will get to keep their jobs until sometime in 2024.

“To position Hasbro for growth, we must first make sure our foundation is solid and profitable,” Cocks added. “To do that, we need to modernize our organization and get even leaner. We decided to communicate now so people have time to plan and process the changes.”

The company also plans to shut down its Rhode Island office once its lease expires in January 2025, presumably at the cost of more jobs.