Hasbro cuts 170 jobs — primarily in the US and Canada

Here’s the latest from Yahoo Finance and Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hasbro Inc is cutting about 170 jobs as the second-largest U.S. toy company tries to recover from sluggish sales during the holiday season.

Most of the jobs are in the United States and Canada, company spokesman Wayne Charness said, including “about 55” in Rhode Island where it is based.

“These moves were made to address both the under-performance in the U.S. and Canada segment, and the need for different skill sets in the company’s workforce to be better aligned with a quickly evolving business,” Charness said.

All employees affected will get “competitive” severance packages, including outplacement services, he said.

Hasbro will take some related charges in the first quarter, but they won’t be material, he added.

The maker of Nerf foam toys and Monopoly board games suffered from weak post-Thanksgiving demand, especially for its games and puzzles, in the United States and Canada.

Larger rival Mattel also missed sales expectations in the holiday quarter, but still outperformed Hasbro and gained share from Mattel, according to data from NPD, a market research firm.

Hasbro, based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has 5,900 employees worldwide, including about 1,400 in that state.

According to information posted at ActionFigureInsider.com, this includes employees from the Boys & Collector lines.  No news is available as to what effect this will have on the G.I. Joe design team.