JioStar Announces Workforce Restructuring Post Star-Viacom18 Merger

JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Disney, has launched a multi-pronged workforce restructuring program in response to the Star India-Viacom18 merger, which includes layoffs in areas of duplication, an aggressive outplacement effort, and redeployment of tech and digital staff into the Jio ecosystem.

According to high-level company sources, once the exercise is completed, a little more than 500 employees may leave.

Employees with less than three years of experience will receive six months' salary plus a three-month notice period. Employees are also paid one month's salary for each year of employment, with a maximum of twelve months' salary plus a three-month notice period.

According to reports, employees will receive a pro-rated gratuity even if they do not complete the mandatory five-year tenure required for eligibility.

The combined workforce of the two companies exceeds 6,000 people across the TV, digital, and sports verticals. Redundancies are expected in linear TV sales, marketing, programming, and distribution.

The two companies have significant overlap in sports and digital, with Star having a larger presence in these segments, whereas Viacom18 has been aggressively hiring since entering the sports space in 2021 and revamping its digital business by merging Voot and JioCinema.

"While there are job duplications in linear TV, significant overlaps exist in digital and sports, as Star already had large teams in these areas, while Viacom18 aggressively expanded these segments over the past two years and was on a hiring spree," according to reports.

Star India's employee benefit expense increased to Rs 1,412 crore in FY24, from Rs 1,316 crore the previous year. In FY24, Viacom18 spent Rs 512 crore on employee benefits, up from Rs 469 crore the previous year.

Last year, JioStar vice-chairperson Uday Shankar stated that the company would handle the headcount rationalization process with care and transparency.

"Where there are multiple candidates for the same role, we will first look to find them another meaningful position within the organization. However, in some cases, there may be redundancy. You know both sides are very familiar with one another. It is a small ecosystem," he had stated.