Hello Sunshine Cuts Half Staff Amid Hollywood Layoffs

Hello Sunshine just axed half its team-about thirty people-on the Friday before Halloween. The cut comes as Hollywood reels from a string of shocks, from COVID fallout to two strikes. Now the latest blow is the Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount merger, which has sparked a cascade of layoffs. Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to more than a quarter of its workforce-around sixty-thousand employees-to offset AI and data-center costs. EA trimmed about three percent, roughly four hundred jobs, and shut down BioWare in October. Netflix slashed six percent of its global staff in mid-October, wiping out roughly one thousand positions. Disney's 2026 round cut a couple hundred tech and HR workers, smaller than earlier sweeps. The BBC announced compulsory redundancy for one hundred ten staff and plans one hundred eighty voluntary exits. Channel 4 aims to shed three hundred forty jobs by the end of 2026. Xbox will eliminate two hundred sixty-eight roles across its studios. E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said the AI "revolution" forced a twelve percent workforce cut, underscoring the tech shift.