Vice Presidents Among 70 Workers Laid Off at Mattel

Mattel, the troubled toy maker, has laid off more than 70 administrative employees over the last few weeks as part of an effort to streamline the company and reduce costs.

Spencer Boise, a Mattel vice president, said Thursday that seven officers and 65 other administrative employees were laid off. Boise wouldn’t identify the officers but said they were vice presidents or higher.

A source close to the situation said two production vice presidents, a marketing vice president and a finance director were among those let go in the last two weeks.

The departure of Thomas J. Kalinske, Mattel’s president, wasn’t related to the cutbacks, Boise said. Kalinske resigned two weeks ago to become president and chief operating officer of Universal Matchbox, a toy company based in Bermuda.

As previously reported, the cutbacks are part of an effort to reduce Mattel’s overhead by at least $20 million this year. The company has said it intends to lay off 200 employees, or about 10% of its headquarters staff in Hawthorne.

“We’re about halfway through the process,” Boise said. He added that the company expects to eliminate another 100 headquarters jobs through attrition.

The cutbacks are the result of a special three-month review of the company’s operations by its new chairman and chief executive, John W. Amerman, who has said that his first task is to boost profits at Mattel. Amerman formerly ran the company’s successful international business.

Boise said Amerman was in meetings on Thursday and not available for comment.

Mattel, long supported in the United States by the popularity of its Barbie dolls, lost $1 million last year. The company blamed the loss on a $250-million decline in sales of its Masters of the Universe and Rainbow Brite dolls. For the first quarter in 1987, Mattel lost $18,000.

Although layoffs are nothing new to Mattel--150 managers were let go a year ago--a former employee said the mood at company headquarters was especially somber. “No one knows who are the lucky ones, the ones who go or the ones who stay.”

The former employee said the review process was a difficult one since managers were asked to review their departments and come up with costs savings as high as 50%. “It was a masochistic process. Everyone knew that they were coming up with numbers that meant their own jobs would be cut.”

E. Joseph McKay, vice president for personnel, said the company was concerned that the layoffs would damage morale. “We’re looking at programs to ensure that employees stay with the company and feel positive about the company,” said McKay, who declined to elaborate further.

Boise confirmed that the “basic outline” of severance packages given to laid-off employees include a week’s pay for every year at Mattel and another week’s pay for every $200 in weekly salary. Employees over age 50 get an additional sum. Some longtime employees are receiving as much as a year’s pay.

“It varies from employee to employee. Not everyone is getting the same thing,” Boise said.