Navarre lays off about 8% of workforce

Chief operating officer Brian Burke included in cuts

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/13/2009

JAN. 13 | Navarre Corp. last week completed a round of layoffs impacting around 50 employees, including chief operating officer Brian Burke, as part of an overall initiative to slim expenses.

These exits represent about 7% to 8% of Navarre’s total workforce, the company’s general counsel, Ryan Urness, said confirming the staff reductions today.

Employees who had been overseen by Burke, considered Navarre’s No. 2 business operations executive, will now report to the company’s CEO, Cary Deacon.

Urness declined to specify which employees were leaving which Navarre divisions. However, it appears that the departures crossed various segments, including about 20 from its proprietary anime DVD label Funimation, as well as from Navarre’s finance, information technology and operations departments, among other areas.

These cuts began last month, when Navarre decided to shut down operations of its BCI DVD label. At that time, the company warned of upcoming layoffs and that the related severance packages would result in a significant charge to its third-quarter fiscal 2009 results, for the period ended Dec. 31.

Urness said no further positions are targeted for elimination at this time.

“This is completely a cost-cutting initiative based on broader economic issues, which are affecting our customer base,” he said.