Sesame Workshop in New York City laid off 30 of its employees on Tuesday (June 25) per Deadline.com. Only last May, the non-profit producer of the acclaimed children’s series Sesame Street, terminated 30 employees to save costs in a tough economic climate.
CEO H. Melvin Ming said in a memo sent to staff, “We at Sesame Workshop are not immune to the challenges of today’s economic environment. After careful review, we have concluded that we must operate, and achieve our strategic priorities with fewer resources. Therefore, we have reluctantly determined that we must reduce our workforce by approximately 10%.”
Former Newsweek, Inc. CEO and Nickelodeon executive Tom Ascheim, who joined the company in 2012 as exec VP of the Sesame Learning program, was among the staffers who were let go this week. Sesame Learning will be absorbed into other divisions of the company, Ming said today. The Corporate Strategy and the Business Systems Programming groups will also be dissolved as of July 1st. Sesame Workshop’s Global Education department will also be melded into other units.
“We remain optimistic about our future and remain committed to our mission of helping children reach their highest potential here and around the globe,” a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop told Deadline, while admitting to the layoffs.
