After laying off scores of workers, Warner Bros. Discovery is rehiring — in Mexico

Warner Bros. Discovery is shifting some work to Mexico after laying off scores of people in the US post-merger.

The media giant is outsourcing work across a number of back-office divisions at its film and TV operations in Burbank, Calif., after cutting its US workforce, according to three people familiar with the matter.

One source said 10% of the finance staff in Burbank was cut, estimated at a few dozen people. However, another source said the cuts could be deeper on particular teams, with at least one seeing a reduction of upwards of 30%.

The outsourcing has brought fresh concern and grumbling to offices already feeling low morale because of the merger upheaval. The sources said that some people who have been let go are being told they’ll have to train their foreign replacements on the way out, while the outsourcing has also stoked worry among those remaining about having to manage the work done by a non-US workforce.

All of Warner Bros. Discovery has been going through aggressive cost-cutting to find savings after the $43 billion merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery in 2022. The cuts have varied by business unit: CNN eliminated 400 jobs, or about 10%, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s combined ad sales staff was reduced by 30%, for example. The company has also canceled high-profile shows and films like “Batgirl.” 

Outsourcing isn’t new to Warner vets. In 2008, Warner Bros. Entertainment struck a deal with Capgemini to outsource back-office operations. Much of that work was shifted to India and Poland.