MANILA, Philippines — After 17 years of building a career at ABS-CBN, longtime advertising and promotions executive Vaughn Hautea is among roughly 200 employees affected by the network’s latest retrenchment program.
Hautea publicly shared his reaction after learning that his employment with the media company would soon come to an end, describing the decision as unexpected and saying he had believed his role remained functional and vital to the organization. His account has since drawn messages of support from several Kapamilya stars and colleagues.
The personal story comes as ABS-CBN undertakes another major workforce reduction while attempting to rebuild its business around content, digital distribution and international audiences.
“I thought my role was functional and vital”
Hautea, identified in reports as a longtime ABS-CBN advertising and promotions head or manager, said he was caught off guard by the retrenchment.
In a post shared after receiving the news, he said he had no immediate backup plan and expressed gratitude for his 17 years with the company.
He also appealed publicly for potential employment opportunities as he prepares to leave ABS-CBN.
His message emphasized that the retrenchment should not be interpreted by him as a measure of his professional worth, while acknowledging the difficulty of leaving an organization he had considered home for nearly two decades.
Several Kapamilya personalities, including Melai Cantiveros, Jodi Sta. Maria, Shaina Magdayao, Empress Schuck and Alexa Ilacad, expressed support for Hautea following his announcement.
ABS-CBN is cutting about 200 jobs
Hautea’s departure comes against the backdrop of a company-wide retrenchment affecting approximately 200 employees, or about 7% of ABS-CBN’s workforce.
ABS-CBN announced the program on September 15, saying the decision followed a review of its financial position and was intended to keep the company on stronger financial footing.
The company pointed to several pressures affecting the content industry, including the conflict in the Middle East, high inflation and slower economic growth. According to ABS-CBN, those conditions have contributed to weaker advertising and consumer spending.
ABS-CBN also said its content business continues to reach audiences through shows, films, music and events across platforms in the Philippines and overseas.
The company described the broader strategy as rebuilding and recreating ABS-CBN toward a future as a global storytelling company.
The financial numbers behind the layoffs
The latest retrenchment comes after a difficult first half of 2026.
ABS-CBN reported a ₱1.83-billion consolidated net loss for the first six months of 2026, more than double the ₱852-million loss recorded during the same period a year earlier, according to GMA News and Philstar.com.
Consolidated revenues fell 17% to ₱6.88 billion, while operating expenses declined by about 5%.
BusinessMirror likewise reported that weak advertising and consumer spending continued to weigh on the company’s recovery, even as ABS-CBN pursued additional capital.
The company has also said that new investments represent a vote of confidence in ABS-CBN’s future and will help finance its continuing recovery and transformation.
A fresh round of cuts after years of restructuring
The latest layoffs are not ABS-CBN’s first major workforce reduction.
The company underwent a much larger restructuring in 2020 after its congressional franchise expired and was not renewed, forcing the shutdown of its free-to-air television and radio operations.
GMA News reported that roughly 5,000 employees were laid off in 2020 from a workforce of about 11,000. ABS-CBN subsequently shifted toward content production and distribution through other television networks, digital platforms and international channels.
The company also implemented another round of layoffs involving around 100 workers in 2024 amid declining advertising revenues, according to GMA News.
New money, but continued pressure
One notable aspect of the latest retrenchment is that it comes alongside fresh investment.
Philstar.com reported that three companies representing branches of the Lopez family committed to subscribe to ₱2.2 billion worth of ABS-CBN shares using their own resources.
BusinessMirror separately reported that ABS-CBN had been working to raise additional capital while simultaneously reducing its cost base.
That combination — fresh capital alongside workforce reductions — underscores the company’s effort to simultaneously finance its next stage of growth and control expenses.
The company says its business is changing
ABS-CBN is no longer operating under the same business model that defined the network before 2020.
Instead of relying primarily on its own nationwide free-to-air broadcast network, the company has increasingly focused on producing and licensing content for multiple platforms.
Its current strategy encompasses television programs, films, music, events and digital distribution, with the company seeking audiences both in the Philippines and internationally.
For employees such as Hautea, however, the transformation has a deeply personal consequence: a long career at one of the country’s best-known media organizations is coming to an end.
What comes next for ABS-CBN?
The retrenchment is part of a broader attempt by ABS-CBN to stabilize its finances while repositioning itself for a changing media market.
The company says it remains focused on expanding its content business despite the difficult operating environment, while the latest financial results show the scale of the challenge facing the organization.
For Hautea and the other employees affected, the immediate issue is more personal — finding the next opportunity after years inside the Kapamilya network.
His emotional farewell has placed an individual face on a much larger corporate restructuring, showing how a company’s strategic shift can translate into very real career changes for longtime employees.
After 17 years, Hautea’s ABS-CBN chapter is closing. But his next chapter — and the company’s own transformation — is only beginning.
