American content creation company the Arena Group (AG) said brand management company Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has revoked the licence Sports Illustrated (SI) operates with. “As a result of this licence revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand,” said AG in a Friday email to its staff. “All impacted employees will receive severance pay and will be entitled to any applicable WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) or noticed period outlined in the Union agreement.” .Under the union agreement, AG said some employees will be terminated right away and paid in lieu of the applicable notice period. It added employees with a last working day of Friday will be notified by the People team soon. However, it said other employees will be expected to work until the end of the notice period and will receive additional information soon. “We appreciate the work and efforts of every one who has contributed to the SI brand and business,” it said. This ordeal comes after CBC/Radio-Canada said on December 4 it expects to cut about 600 union and non-union positions to cope with budget issues, despite it being handed $1.3 billion of taxpayers’ money each year.READ MORE: CBC to cut 600 jobs amid budget problems“CBC/Radio-Canada is not immune to the upheaval facing the Canadian media industry,” said CBC/Radio-Canada President and CEO Catherine Tait. “We’ve successfully managed serious structural declines in our business for many years, but we no longer have the flexibility to do so without reductions.”
