Mexico’s Televisa to Cut 4,000 Jobs

Grupo Televisa, Mexico’s largest TV network, plans to slash about 4,000 jobs, or 20% of its work force, by the end of September as part of a yearlong cost-cutting effort. The cuts, which will leave Televisa with about 17,000 employees, aim to achieve $60 million in annual cost reductions, executives said. That would add to $25 million in annual savings from layoffs during the first six months of the year. The latest cuts span all departments and seniority levels. Many of the affected employees were leaving the company this week. Shortly after longtime Chairman Emilio Azcarraga Milmo died last year, Televisa vowed to cut $100 million in annual fixed costs. It sold corporate jets, cut executive pay and closed offices in New York and Los Angeles. The cuts at Televisa coincide with belt-tightening at archrival TV Azteca, which said this week that it would cut sales and administrative expenses 20% to prepare for a slowdown in the Mexican economy.