Image via Flickr/ Nicholas Noyes

Sesame Street’s parent organization, the nonprofit Sesame Workshop, will lay off 10% of its staff.

Deadline Hollywood reported a note was sent to staff yesterday afternoon in which CEO H. Melvin Ming said,
“We at Sesame Workshop are not immune to the challenges of today’s economic environment. After careful review, we have concluded that we must operate, and achieve our strategic priorities with fewer resources. Therefore, we have reluctantly determined that we must reduce our workforce by approximately 10 percent.”

Its recent financial statement shows a 15% drop in revenue and an operating loss of 24.3 million dollars. According to CNN Money, Sesame Workshop had received $46.2 million in revenue from toy and other product licensing based on its characters, $33.8 million in royalties and fees, and another $33.8 million in donations from the likes of corporate and government donors. However, in a statement emailed to the Huffington Post, the organization said its “constantly assessing where we must invest for the future in response to today’s rapidly changing digital environment.”

However, it’s not all doom and gloom in the Sesame Streetz.  There is some good news.

Sesame Street told the NY Daily News that Fans won’t be able to tell the organization is suffering from watching the show, as stars like Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and the Cookie Monster are likely to keep their jobs.

So, you can rest assured Bert and Ernie will keep up on their shared mortgage and Oscar won’t be losing his trashcan.  Let’s just hope that the people who were laid off will fare as well too.

Matt McCusker

Matt is a writer and sometimes comedian and mixed-martial artist. He graduated from Drexel University in 2009 with a degree in international business. He enjoys the company of his wife and two Akitas in his humble South Jersey abode.

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