cirque du soleil has laid off nearly 100 employees across its operations, including around 70 positions abolished at its Montreal headquarters, the company confirmed Tuesday (Eastern Time). The reductions are part of a wider restructuring after a period of weaker demand for the company’s shows and recent credit-rating pressure from S&P Global. Management says the moves are intended to reduce costs and reposition the business.
Cirque Du Soleil Immediate Reactions
Marc-Étienne Nolin, spokesperson for Cirque du Soleil, said the headquarters in Montreal is the primary location affected, adding that “for the Montreal headquarters, we are talking about a total of around 70 positions abolished, ” and noting there had already been several vacant positions, which reduced the number of people directly affected. He also said the company remains optimistic about the future and believes its teams are positioned to ensure continuity and success.
S&P Global, the credit-rating agency, has already lowered the company’s credit rating. the organization performed below expectations in 2025 because of weak demand across its portfolio of resident and touring shows and indicated that reductions in costs and show closures could reduce leverage ratios.
Mark Cornell, the British businessman recently recruited to lead the company, has been reshaping the leadership structure. He wrote that he is rethinking the company’s structure and operations as part of broader organizational changes.
Restructuring Details and Scale
The cuts announced Tuesday bring to nearly 100 the number of positions removed in this round, with the Montreal headquarters singled out for approximately 70 of those eliminations. The company previously cut about 110 employees at the Montreal headquarters nearly a year earlier; cumulative reductions over the last two years exceed 600 positions. The corporate production and creative functions are managed from the Montreal headquarters, which employs close to 1, 000 people.
Executives have also removed several senior roles in recent months as part of the reorganization. Positions eliminated include the company’s creative guide role and senior revenue and operations posts. Emmanuelle Leclerc-Granger, who had served in the company’s finance leadership, has since moved to a role at a major institutional investor, illustrating movement at the executive level amid the restructuring.
What Comes Next
Employees expressed mixed awareness of the changes on Tuesday; some were already informed while others had not yet been notified. Management provided limited public detail about the nature of the cuts beyond the headcount figures. With S&P Global flagging weaker demand and suggesting cost reductions and show closures could improve leverage, further measures to reduce costs or adjust the show portfolio are possible.
Stakeholders will watch closely for additional announcements from company leadership about which functions will be centralized or reduced and whether more show closures or restructurings will follow. The company’s next public statements and any updates from Mark Cornell’s reorganization plan will determine the timeline for further actions.
