Dish Network will let go of an undisclosed number of employees as the pay-TV giant looks to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Dish spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to TheWrap, but did not elaborate on the number of employees or divisions impacted.
“The pandemic has forced us to take a closer look at every aspect of our business, at our work volumes, our areas of focus and investments, and the performance of our team members,” CEO Erik Carlson said in an internal memo seen by Reuters.
Dish had 16,000 employees at the end of last year.
“Due to the current economic climate, combined with changing needs of our customers and how we best serve them, Dish has made the difficult decision to reevaluate our organization,” Dish said in a statement. “This includes a focused set of staffing reductions to align our workforce with the current and future needs of the business.”
The company added this is “not a step we take lightly.”
Dish, like most other satellite and cable providers, has struggled to hold onto customers in recent years — although it hasn’t been as hard hit as rivals like DirecTV. During the fourth quarter of 2019, the company lost 100,000 satellite customers, while an additional 94,000 over-the-top customers ditched their Sling TV service. Between Dish and Sling, the company has about 12 million total customers.