According to a report from PWInsider, WWE employees were informed via a memo on Friday afternoon that a new severance policy has been implemented, effective immediately. The change significantly alters the previous policy that had been in place for years.
The old WWE severance policy is no more. Under the previous system, employees received one month of severance for every year they had worked for the company.
New TKO Policy Implemented
Going forward, WWE will now honor a policy from its parent company, TKO Group Holdings. The new standard provides two weeks’ worth of severance pay for every year an employee has been with the company, effectively cutting the previous amount in half.
The PWInsider report also notes that there are additional caps on the new policy that are based on an employee’s management level, though specific details on those caps were not immediately available.
A “Major Blow to Company Morale”
The change has reportedly been received poorly by employees within the company. The report describes the new policy as a “major blow to company morale among employees”. The negative reaction is said to be amplified by the fact that many employees are now tasked with responsibilities that span across the multiple brands under the TKO umbrella, including WWE, UFC, and PBR, as opposed to just focusing on WWE as they did before the company was sold.
The new policy comes nearly a year after WWE officially merged with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings under Endeavor. Since the merger, the company has gone through several rounds of layoffs and corporate restructuring to consolidate operations between the sports entertainment and mixed martial arts promotions.
