A new report shows that Sony has laid off almost 90 members of staff in a move that shows the company shifting even further away from the physical retail market. The merchandiser role has been scrapped entirely, and many retail marketing jobs are also taking a hit.
As reported by Axios, the cuts occurred this week but remained under the radar until now. Those in the merchandiser role, which is being scrapped, were responsible for visiting retail stores to prepare them for PlayStation product launches and ensure they were knowledgeable about those products.
In addition, some retail marketing jobs are being cut, though it’s hard to say if these are closely linked with the merchandiser role or are part of a bigger plan to condense the marketing department. One of the affected staff told Axios that they believed Sony could have done more to help employees find new roles and that they were disappointed that the news came out of the blue.
These layoffs come in the same week that the company announced the All-new PlayStation Plus subscriptions. This shows that Sony will focus more on dealing directly with consumers in the future and could indicate that we’ll see more marketing via events such as State of Play or significant industry events rather than in physical retail stores.
