JioStar to lay off 1,100 to cut role overlaps

JioStar will lay off more than 1,100 employees as the newly formed joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd's Viacom18 and The Walt Disney Co.'s India unit cuts overlapping roles following the merger, said multiple people aware of the development.

- Gaurav Laghate & Nehal Chaliawala

"The departures started a month ago, and they are not ending anytime soon," said one of the people quoted above. The layoffs will continue till June, the people said. The job cuts are primarily affecting corporate roles in distribution, finance, commercial, and legal departments, nearly a dozen people who spoke with Mint confirmed, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

They said the layoffs include entry-level employees, senior managers, senior directors, and even those at the assistant vice-president level.

"So far, sports has remained untouched because the Champions Trophy, Women's Premier League (WPL), and Indian Premier League (IPL) are scheduled back-to-back," said these people. Several regional entertainment channels, including Colors Kannada and Colors Bangla, have seen significant workforce reductions, they said.