UK job losses as US toy giant moves to techno-games

UK jobs are in the balance at US toy giant Hasbro as the company moves to reinvent itself as a technology gaming company.

Some 79 UK employees will be laid off when Hasbro closes its plant in Ashford, Kent as part of a worldwide consolidation that will result in a total of 2200 job cuts or 19 per cent of its global workforce.

Other UK and European employees in sales and marketing will also be laid off although the company could not yet quantify those numbers, according to a spokesman in the US. The restructuring will cost Hasbro $141 million in charges in the fourth quarter.

Hasbro, the world's second largest toy maker after Mattel, said the lay-offs were necessary to reposition the company to sell more technology-based toys that include computer/electronics games or interactive toys such as Furby. Hasbro has the rights to this season's hot product, Pokemon, as well as the electronic version of the Dungeons and Dragons game.

Late last year Hasbro bought software maker Micro Prose and this year acquired the UK designer of educational software Europress to solidify its hi-tech credentials. The company is also investing heavily in a website called games.com that will be launched next year.

Although this was Hasbro's second restructuring in three years, US analysts felt it was overdue because the company had too many workers for a company generating around $200 million in profits.