MGM Lays Off and Furloughs Over One-Third of Staff Because of Coronavirus Shutdown

MGM is the latest movie studio hit with companywide layoffs as Hollywood continues to reel from fallout surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. A new report from Variety suggests the studio has laid off approximately 50 people, or roughly seven percent of the company’s workforce. Furthermore, United Artists Releasing — a joint venture owned by MGM and Annapurna Pictures — has furloughed roughly one-third of its staff for the foreseeable future. It’s unclear when MGM, UAR, or any other Hollywood studio, for that matter, will return to work. The report also says executives at both MGM and UAR will be taking temporary pay cuts.

“In the face of these global economic and industry business challenges, we have undertaken certain actions to mitigate the current financial impact on our business and to ensure MGM is well positioned for the future,” the company said in an internal memo obtained by the trade publication. “Unfortunately, these changes necessitate some permanent reductions of our workforce. All impacted employees have been notified.”

With virtually all production between now and July postponed until later in the year, studios have been scrambling to find work for workforces suddenly without any tasks to do. Outside of Hollywood proper, other entertainment companies — like Disney and Universal, for example — have been hit exceptionally hard without the ability to fall back on their theme parks as Hollywood began to falter. As of Friday afternoon, the latest news points to both Disney World and Disneyland remaining closed until 2021.

“Moreover, we now believe the lingering effects of the outbreak — including crowd avoidance, new health precautions, etc. — will dramatically reduce the profitability of these businesses even after they’ve reopened until a vaccine is widely available,” Swiss banker UBS said in a note to clients.

Throughout the pandemic, Disney has furloughed upwards of 100,000 employees across the company between parks, Walt Disney Studios, and various other Disney-owned properties.

According to the latest numbers from Johns Hopkins pandemic-tracking map, over 839,000 Americans have fallen ill with COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The infections have caused 51,209 deaths domestically and 194,000 around the world.