Despite the growth Univision has seen in the last few months, the coronavirus crisis has forced them to make adjustments to face the recession. The restructuring of the company was reported by its CEO, Vince Sadusky, in an email sent to their employees. The plan includes layoffs, restructuring of teams and divisions, salary cuts, and suspension of contributions for the retirement plan and unpaid permits in some areas, such as sports, that are entirely paralyzed at the moment.
“The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be greater than we initially expected, and banks are now estimating the worse global recession since the Second World War,” said Sadusky. “Despite the advantages and recent growth impulse in Univision, the pandemic has caused a considerable contraction among our advertisers that has had a direct impact on our activities”.
Other measures they have taken are the postponement of hirings, reduction of third-party marketing, renegotiation of contracts with providers, suppression of non-essential expenditures, and trips for the rest of the year.
“We feel these measures will help us overcome this international health crisis in the most solid position possible to continue offering essential and uninterrupted content to our loyal TV viewers and continue serving the Hispanic community”.
At the start of this year, the owners of Univision agreed to sell a share of 64% to the investment firms Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight LLC, which translated into aid to lower their debt load.