EA lays off 900 employees in 'organizational restructuring'
During a conference call discussing its year-end financials yesterday, Electronic Arts revealed that it laid off approximately 900 employees worldwide as part of an "organizational restructuring" initiative.
Emphasizing that its business was in a period of transition due to the coming launch of next-generation consoles, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen announced company-wide plans to "reduce [its] overall headcount by approximately 10 percent," in an attempt to reduce costs. EA employed an estimated 9,000 workers across its studios, according to its last official employee count in March of 2012.
The latest round of layoffs cost EA $16 million in severance payments.
Over the last year, EA announced layoffs in its Los Angeles and Montreal offices, was vague about closures at EA Mobile and shuttered its PopCap Dublin studio. Last month, EA's Origin was restructured, and is now part of the Frank Gibeau-headed EA Labels group.
Electronic Arts has developed a pattern to its layoff practices over the last few years. In May of last year, restructuring-related layoffs cut EA's workforce by an estimated 5 to 10 percent, while around 800 EA employees lost their jobs between 2010 and 2011.
