Hasbro to cut 10% of workforce, consolidate facilities

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Credit Photo by: Catherine Welch / RIPR

Hasbro offices downtown Providence

Pawtucket-based toy maker Hasbro says it will lay off about 10 percent of its workforce and consolidate some facilities to offset lower than expected revenue growth.

Hasbro’s revenues declined about two percent in 2012 from the previous year’s to about four billion dollars. Weak holiday sales at home and in some international markets, plus less-than-favorable foreign exchange rates and the increasing cost of things like materials and labor all played a role in Hasbro’s missing analysts’ fourth quarter expectations. So the company announced plans to shave $100 million in costs by 2015, including cutting about 550 jobs and consolidating some facilities. No word yet on where lay-offs or facility closures will occur. The maker of Mr. Potato Head and Play Doh let about a hundred seventy employees go in early 2012. But recently, the company has signaled plans to reinvigorate its brands by investing in game innovation, digital media, and licensing. It also moved several hundred employees into a new office downtown Providence.

Hasbro Inc.'s stock (NASDAQ-HAS) tanked about three percent in mid-day trading (updates here).

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