Cirque du Soleil cutting 110 jobs

Members of Cirque du Soleil perform after nearly 400 new Canadians take an oath of citizenship at a ceremony in the circus troupe's big tent in Toronto on Friday, July 19, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

Cirque du Soleil is laying off more than 100 employees as part of a restructuring of the company.

Some of the positions are at the head office in Montreal, but the company is not saying if employees were laid off in other cities. About 4,000 employees work at the company worldwide.

Cirque du Soleil declined an interview request on Monday, but said in a written statement that the cuts represent about 2 per cent of the company headcount.

“We worked tirelessly to retain as much talent as possible, knowing that our future success depends on the strength of our people. Throughout this process, we remained particularly vigilant to ensure that our decisions did not compromise our commitment to employee health and safety,” the statement reads.

“As a result, 98% of our workforce was retained, with only 2% of positions affected (which represents 110 employees) —and no impact on our artists and technicians.”

Monday’s cuts were done with the aim of “breaking down silos between divisions and drawing on our best practices to gain agility and streamline our operating costs,” the company added.

Last November, the company shut down shows that had been running for decades in New York and Chicago.