It’s not an uncommon practice for major companies to cut down on jobs and labor costs. Unfortunately, for those directly affected by such cuts, it doesn’t make the practice any less difficult to deal with. ESPN is, by no means, an exception to the rule. They’ve been consistently cutting down on labor costs for more than ten years now, and it looks like another wave of cuts are coming soon according to Stephen A. Smith.
When speaking on his “K[no]w Mercy” podcast, Smith stated that Disney, which owns ESPN, is preparing to layoff more than 7,000 employees. It could happen to anyone, at any time. He doesn’t completely rule out the possibility of himself being among that number.
Here is Stephen A. Smith’s full quote:
“Have you all been paying attention to the business landscape? Disney itself announced that over 7,000 employees are going to be let go,” Smith said. “ESPN is under the Disney umbrella. They’re going to have cuts coming.
“Hell, for all I know, I might be one of them. Now, I doubt that. But it’s possible. No one knows.”
Do you know how bad it’s gotten for ESPN for the last decade and some change? Front Office Sports explains it here:
ESPN’s footprint has been reduced to less than 75 million U.S. homes from 100 million in 2011, and the network has suffered several layoffs over the last decade.
- Ravaged by the pandemic, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro cut 300 jobs and let 200 positions go unfilled in 2021.
- In 2017, former president John Skipper laid off roughly 100 anchors, reporters, and analysts, including big names like Trent Dilfer, Danny Kanell, Jerome Bettis, Marc Stein and Len Elmore.
- ESPN dropped 300 employees in 2015.
A reported source doesn’t believe this wave of cuts will be as bad in comparison to 2017. However, “it might be bad” they also said. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs. The anxious part about it is, nobody knows who is going to be put up on the chopping block.
