WORLD NEWS

Funko announces around 250 employees to be laid off

Published on: 8th June 2020

The company hopes that taking “difficult decisions” will allow it to continue trading successfully in the future.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Funko has reported plans to reduce the company’s global workforce by around 25%, which equates to roughly 250 employees. The company stated that the layoffs are in order to reduce costs and preserve liquidity as the company responds to the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic with what it has termed “organizational restructuring”.

In March, Funko reported “rapid growth over the last several years,” which it says has placed a strain on the company’s “managerial, operational, product design and development, sales and marketing, administrative and financial infrastructure.” Consequently, the company had gradually increased the number of full-time employees to 1,077.

However, in April, Funko was reported to be furloughing a “significant portion” of its employees. Some of the most senior managers were also expected to see a cut in salary of around 20% as a short-term measure, while the company met the challenges of trading through the pandemic.

According to its filing this week, most of the layoffs should take effect by the end of June, with the remainder to be completed by the end of September. Funko expects to incur approximately $1m in charges related to “certain termination benefits.”

The company has not specified how many of the job losses would be in its US headquarters or whether other areas of the business would be affected.

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