Layoffs Announced at Sony Pictures

CULVER CITY: Sony Pictures Entertainment will be laying off a reported 450 employees, reflecting a 6.5-percent reduction in its global workforce, following a round of cuts last year.

Michael Lynton, the chairman of SPE, and Amy Pascal, co-chair, broke the news in a memo to company employees yesterday. Lynton and Pascal did not reveal the exact number of positions affected, noting: "We do not have final numbers or specific dates for all reductions now, because decisions regarding proposals for certain international offices are pending. Local laws will be governing a consultation process with employees in those locations."

The layoffs are expected to begin in March and will be drawn from across the studio, with the bulk from the home entertainment and IT segments. The memo explained that the cuts were needed "in the context of a strategy designed to help us safeguard our competitiveness and chart our own course through these troubled waters. The need is clear: from the growth of online piracy, to the social media effect on the performance of films, to the way people have changed how they watch television and acquire DVDs. The business is going through a rough period of trial and transition, and we have an obligation to take the steps necessary to get through it."