Sesame Workshop is cutting staff, according to an email sent by president and CEO, Sherrie Rollins Westin.
In the email sent to staff, Westin said the current economic and media landscape has impacted the company.
“Given that our largest single expense is people and benefits, we must downsize significantly and make what we hope will be temporary changes to our benefits and bonus program,” the email said.
These layoffs come two months after Max said it would stop distributing Sesame Street episodes in 2025 and within a day of its staff attempting to unionise. Cast, crew and writers were already union members but this is the first time those in administrative roles at the company have sought representation.
"Amid the changing media and funding landscape, we have made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our organisation," a Sesame Workshop spokesperson wrote in an email to NPR.
“These changes are necessary to ensure that the Workshop is poised to continue to deliver on its mission for years to come, but that does not make the human impact of these reductions any less painful.
After Max decided to drop the program in December of last year, the beloved children's show is still searching for a home.
Despite this, its 56th show will begin production next month and will feature a new format to appeal to modern families.
