Laid off from Mattel.

What Mattel layoffs have meant for employees

The Mattel layoffs on record since 2025 reached into the office jobs behind Mattel's toy lines. The first round took marketing, design and information technology roles at headquarters, as MyNewsLA described the notice, and the next fell mostly on senior and executive staff, per the Los Angeles Business Journal. Mattel's own explanation both times was about its structure, strengthening it in 2025 and then reorganizing the brands team. If you held one of those jobs, that explanation is yours to use too, and it's a plain answer when an interviewer asks why you left, with more on explaining a layoff to an employer if you want it.

Mattel's factory jobs have been on the move for a long time. In 2001 it said it would send the Murray, Kentucky work to its plants in Mexico, as UPI reported then, and in March 2025 Kreiz told Reuters that Mattel, which once owned four factories in China, would be down to one before the year was out, a remark the Los Angeles Business Journal carried. Its 2025 annual report still counted about 22,000 manufacturing workers when that year closed. The cost program Mattel launched in 2024 was aimed mainly at that supply chain and factory footprint, its second-quarter 2026 10-Q says, yet about 45% of the yearly savings is expected to come out of selling and administrative costs. A spokesperson tied the March 2025 headquarters round to that same program, and the filing expects the program's actions to be finished by the end of 2026.

The other reason Mattel has given is a redesign of how it runs its brands. On the October 2025 earnings call, Kreiz said the goal was to manage the brands holistically and bring the toy and entertainment businesses closer together, and in February 2026 he said success in toys would drive success in entertainment and the other way around. The company's March 2026 explanation to the Los Angeles Times pointed the same way. Leaders also said Mattel had shifted its focus toward digital games built on its own characters, and it paid around $160 million to own its Mattel163 studio outright. If you're weighing an internal opening after a notice, it's worth asking where the role sits in the new brand structure and who it reports to.

When American Girl announced its Middleton closing in 2022, its letter to Wisconsin put a few promises in writing. Every affected worker was to receive all wages earned and the benefits already agreed upon, along with an invitation to apply at the DeForest distribution center, which expected to add about 40 full-time jobs with benefits, while corporate office staff were to move to a new office within commuting distance in the Madison area. The same letter said none of the affected workers had bumping rights. If you're offered a chance to apply elsewhere in the company, it's worth asking HR whether taking it changes any severance you'd otherwise receive.

If a separation agreement comes with your notice, it's worth checking it against the date your last paycheck lands and the date your health coverage ends, and you can ask HR to put any answer in writing. If negotiating is on your mind, there's more on negotiating a severance agreement and on keeping coverage through COBRA. Every Mattel filing in our WARN tracker since the start of 2025 came from California, where California unemployment benefits covers filing a claim. For people from American Girl's Middleton site, whose closing was announced in 2022, Wisconsin unemployment benefits does the same.

A sourced history of Mattel layoffs

• March 2026, El Segundo headquarters layoffs

  Mattel's notice to California, submitted March 23 and reported by the Los Angeles Times, set 65 headquarters layoffs for May 22. A spokesperson said roles were being reduced and restructured to realign Mattel toward a new brand-centric operating model.

• November 2025, global brands team restructuring

  The 89 cuts Mattel set for January 12 were part of restructuring its global brands team after a September leadership change, a spokesperson told the Los Angeles Business Journal. Most held senior or executive titles, including on Barbie, action figures and games teams.

• March 2025, headquarters cuts under the savings program

  Mattel filed to lay off 120 headquarters employees in marketing, design and IT, including directors and vice presidents, starting May 19. A spokesperson's statement in MyNewsLA tied the cuts to the Optimizing for Profitable Growth program, begun in 2024.

• February 2023, California layoffs and global restructuring

  Mattel's Feb. 21 notice to California blamed challenges in the macroeconomic environment. Roles across its global organization were restructured and its workforce reduced as it took further action to streamline its organizational structure, a spokesperson's statement in the Los Angeles Times said.

• February 2022, American Girl's Middleton site closing

  American Girl planned to close its Middleton warehouse, store and office site, affecting 54 regular and 44 seasonal workers, including doll doctors and doll hospital processors, with most layoffs done by June 1, its February 10 letter to Wisconsin said.

• July 2018, a cut of more than 2,200 positions

  Mattel announced a reduction of over 2,200 positions, 22% of its global non-manufacturing workforce, along with a planned sale of its manufacturing sites in Mexico, its second-quarter 2018 release said.

• April 2001, Murray, Kentucky plant closing

  Mattel said it would phase out its Murray preschool toy plant, where 980 people worked, over 18 months to two years, sending the jobs to Mexico. UPI reported the plant's HR manager handing out severance and benefits information.

What to do if you're laid off from Mattel

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Mattel's biggest hubs: California, Wisconsin. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Mattel's hub states run: California, Wisconsin, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.