Logo

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, TheWrap, THR

Wow: Report Says Turner ‘cuts could be anywhere from 15 to 20 percent’ of Its Work Force. That Would Mean the Elimination of a Total of at Least 2,000 Jobs

Aug 26, 2014  •  Post A Comment

Employee cuts at Turner Broadcasting could be between 15 percent and 20 percent of its 13,000 employees, which would mean the elimination of at least 2,000 jobs, reports Rodney Ho in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). Like Turner Broadcasting, the AJC is based in Atlanta, Ga.

Writes Ho, who has been covering the TV beat for the AJC for 10 years, “I’ve heard from different sources that the employee cuts could be anywhere from 15 to 20 percent. That could mean the loss of at least 2,000 employees across the board. … If anything, this is causing some significant angst and concern among employees.

The Wrap reports 550 buyouts will be offered this week alone. The Hollywood Reporter says it’s closer to 600 and the buyouts will be offered to those 55 and older and severance will be slightly better than the standard two weeks for every year employed there.”

It is not clear when there might be further buy-out offers or layoffs, the story notes.

Ho writes: “Turner CEO John Martin in a memo last week used words like ‘streamlined,’ ‘nimble’ and ‘efficient’ to describe the future operations of Turner, which includes 13,000 employees across networks ranging from CNN and HLN to TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network. Half are based in Atlanta.

“While CNN has gone through rounds of layoffs in the past, Turner Entertainment’s cutbacks in the past have been relatively modest. Most Turner cable networks have generally seen steady growth over the years in terms of personnel.”

As we reported last week, Martin’s memo to employees talked about restructuring under the company’s “Turner 2020” plan.

Ho notes that while Turner presently appears to be “doing well financially,” there is pressure from company parent Time Warner for Turner to “pare costs and restructure operations for the future.”

To read more details about this story we urge you to click on the link in our first paragraph, above, which will take you to Ho’s original story.

john-martin_067(high-res)

John Martin, CEO, Turner Broadcasting

 

 

3 Comments

  1. Well, if Mr. Martin was among the “brains” who brought Jeff Zucker to the company, then he should be among the two thousand, (and without a security blanket).
    Peter Bright

  2. Wow. I can only imagine how many hundreds (thousands?) more layoffs would be needed if Turner wasn’t “doing well financially.” SMH

  3. Right-sizing.

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)