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Crunchyroll Announces Layoffs, Organizational Growth Model for Regional Teams

Entertainment news website Variety reported on Tuesday on a memo that Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini sent out to staff, and it reveals that Crunchyroll is laying off a number of employees. In addition, some employees will expand their scope, and others will get new role assignments. These changes are effective as of Tuesday in the U.S., while layoffs in other countries will follow respective timelines and laws.

Purini also stated in the memo that the staff believes "the right path forward is a new organizational model that supports regionally-empowered teams to lean into anime fandom even further." As such, Crunchyroll will build engineering hubs in the U.S., Mexico, and India "to spark innovation and fuel transformation." The company is also reevaulating how to strengthen its fan experience.

Crunchyroll is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan's Aniplex. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex's Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) parent are both in turn subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.

Sony's Funimation Global Group completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, after the company first announced the acquisition in December 2020. The purchase price was US$1.175 billion, and the proceeds were paid in cash at closing. Funimation's home video releases are now listed under Crunchyroll.

Source: Variety (Todd Spangler)