ESPN Layoffs 2015: 300 Employees To Be Cut Off; What's The Cause?

ESPN Layoffs for 2015 is starting tomorrow and 300 employees are to be cut off. The low growth of the subscriber fee might be the reason.

ESPN will be laying off up to 300 employees tomorrow, according to The Big Lead. The layoffs will be focusing on the upper level employees. Those who have jobs in ESPN with a six-figure salary or more will be a part of the process.

The company's workforce will be cut more than 4% with this job cut. This came a few months after CEO Bob Iger of Disney told the ESPN investors that it had a slow subscriber fee growth, according to InvestorPlace.

"The layoffs are part of a broad strategy to ensure we're in position to make the most of new opportunities to build the future of ESPN," according to John Skipper, ESPN boss in an employee memo that announced the layoffs.

ESPN has been under pressure to cut costs for some time already, according to recode. The increase continued for its content budget and also it has reached the limit to pass the costs. Those costs are to be passed on to pay the TV distributors, according to sources.

There are no plans to cancel any other programs or change the on-air talent, according to the Los Angeles Times. ESPN is still expected to use technology to meet the demand of online and mobile viewing.

ESPN has the highest per-subscriber fees in the sports industry, which is all thanks to NBA, NFL, MLB, and many more. The problem is there are some homes that are watching those events without subscribing through ESPN, according to sources.

"The demand for sports remains undiminished, though the landscape we operate in has never been more complex," according to Skipper in his memo.

ESPN layoffs for 2015 will happen tomorrow but hopefully this is the last cut.