Hasbro confirms to eliminate additional 900 positions beginning in Q4

In a regulatory 8-K filing, the company states: “In October 2022, following a strategic review, Hasbroannounced an Operational Excellence Program, an ongoing enterprise-wide initiative intended to improve our business through specialized organizational programs that include targeted cost-savings, supply chain transformation and certain other restructuring actions designed to drive growth and enhance shareholder value. As part of this program, in January 2023, the Company announced the intention to eliminate approximately 1,000 positions from its global workforce, or approximately 15% of global full-time employees. On December 11, 2023, following a further review of the Company’s cost structure and organizational design, the Company announced additional strategic steps to position the business for future growth, including a revised organizational structure whereby certain corporate functions are anticipated to be supported by a third-party outsourcing provider as well as additional headcount reductions under the Operational Excellence Program. The Company’s organizational structure changes will result in the reallocation of people and resources, which will include voluntary early retirement for certain groups of employees and additional involuntary reductions in employees. The Company currently anticipates that approximately 900 incremental positions will be eliminated as part of the Additional Actions, which are expected to be substantially completed over the next 18 to 24 months. In connection with the Initial Actions, the Company accrued approximately $94 million of expenses related to severance, stock compensation and employee benefits, and expects to accrue approximately $40 million of incremental severance related expenses in connection with the Additional Actions. The Company expects that the cash payments related to the Additional Actions will begin in the fourth quarter of 2023 and continue through the next 18 to 24 months. The Additional Actions are expected to deliver gross annual run-rate cost savings of approximately $100 million. As a result, under the Company’s Operational Excellence Program, the Company now expects to deliver gross annual run-rate cost savings of approximately $350 million to $400 million by the end of 2025 which is increased from the previous estimate of $250 million to $300 million. The foregoing amounts are estimates. Actual amounts may vary based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the number of employees who are impacted through both the voluntary and involuntary workforce reductions.”