Toymaker’s Ultimate Grinch Move, Firing Workers Before Xmas

'Twas just a few days before Christmas, and all through the toy factory, plans were underway - TO LAY OFF A WHOLE BUNCH OF WORKERS!

Last week, Toymaker Hasbro announced it was going to layoff nearly 20-percent of its workforce - and that's on top of the 800 jobs they've already cut this year, according to CBS Boston.

"Today we're announcing additional headcount reductions as part of our previously communicated strategic transformation, affecting approximately 1,100 colleagues globally in addition to the roughly 800 reductions already taken," Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks told employees Monday in a memo shared with CBS MoneyWatch.

CBS is reporting that the layoffs are the result of slumping sales since the holiday season last year. The toymaker also announced they were closing their offices in downtown Providence and those workers would be moved to their worldwide headquarters in Pawtucket, RI.

According to the report, many of the employees were let go last week, and the remaining workers will be let go over the next is months. That means 1,100 workers will be out of a job, bringing the total number of laid off workers to 1,900 over the last year. CBS reported that Hasbro tallied its fourth straight quarterly loss after third-quarter results out in October showed company sales down by 10-percent.

Hasbro started as a family-owned school supplies manufacturer (Hassenfeld Brothers) in downtown Providence in 1923. As the company grew, it developed into a toymaker by the 1940s, making modeling clay and toy doctor and nurse kits through World War II. Hassenfeld's first popular toy was Mr. Potato Head in 1952. The company would later create the first-ever action figure, G.I. Joe, for boys who didn't want to play with dolls (like Barbie Dolls made by competitor Mattel). In 1968, the company officially became known as Hasbro. Hasbro also owns Kenner, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast.

What toys are made by Hasbro?  Here are just some of their biggest brands:

Star Wars
Disney Toys
Action Man
Cluedo
Dungeons & Dragons
G.I. Joe
Jem and The Holograms
Littlest Pet Shop
Magic: The Gathering
Monopoly
My Little Pony
Nerf
Ouija
Peppa Pig
PJ Masks
Play-Doh
Playskool
Power Rangers
Stretch Armstrong
Tonka
Transformers