21st Century Fox is seeking to cut $250 million in expenses this year and is looking to employees for voluntary buyouts and greater cost efficiencies.
In a memo to employees Monday, Fox Networks Group CEO Peter Rice said the company needs to "adjust, adapt, and organize for the future," adding that the company will be "undertaking some structural changes, increasing investment in some parts of the company while making cost reductions in other areas."
In the past 18 months Fox has reorganized Fox Sports; expanded FX Networks and combined its ad sales teams; created National Geographic Partners; and, most recently, restructuring its international channels.
"As the next step in this reorganization, colleagues who fit a specific set of criteria will be offered a generous benefit package if they decide to voluntarily resign from the company, effective May 23, 2016," Rice wrote in the memo. "Colleagues who are eligible for this offer will receive a confidential email in the next few hours with specific terms and benefits. Again, the program is completely voluntary."
Just how many employees will be affected remains to be seen but reports suggest that the reductions are not expected to be heavy. Other programmers have weathered staff reductions to cut costs in the wake of ad revenue declines and ratings pressures, including Viacom and Time Warner's Turner Networks.
