Sony Pictures Lays Off 450 on Declining DVD Sales

Sony Pictures Entertainment is laying off about 450 people mostly in the United States and leaving 100 positions unfilled in order to cut costs and cope with declining DVD sales.

The movie studio subsidiary of Japan’s Sony Corp. told employees about the cuts in a memo on Monday.

The layoffs represent about a 6.5 percent reduction in the 6,800-strong work force at Sony Pictures.

Most of the cuts will occur by the first week of March and will be in the home entertainment and information technology units.

2/1/2010 6:27 PM LOS ANGELES (AP)