The 164 staff were made redundant from the broadcaster's Burbank studios as the
Tonight Show under new host
Jimmy Fallon moves to New York City.
The jobs, based mainly on the production side of the operation, are getting cut as Jay Leno's 22-year reign as host of the show comes to a close with Billy Crystal having the honour of being Leno's first and last guest on the show.
An NBC spokesman
said that all the layoffs will begin on February 14th and will be staggered until April 4th. They also stated that all employees are being encouraged to look at jobs in other areas of NBCUniversal as well as on the new
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
However, that claim has been disputed with an anonymous source telling
Gawker:
"Nobody encouraged us (or me at least) to visit the career website or anything - and the positions at the New York Tonight show have already been filled - not a single person on our crew has moved to that show (that I'm aware of), since part of our severance deal was that we had to remain with the show here."
In an interview with the
Hollywood Reporter Leno stated that he was leaving six months earlier than intended to allow Fallon on during the Winter Olympics, but still had NBC pay staff for the extra six months originally intended.
With Fallon leaving the
Late Show,
Saturday Night Live cast member Seth Meyers will take over the reigns of the show with first guest being former SNL castmate Amy Poehler.
