Sony Home Entertainment's upper echelon took at a hit as Matt Brown, executive vice president of worldwide commercial, announced his retirement. One of Sony Entertainment's top executives, Brown will stay with the company until the end of the month.

"Matt Brown, executive vp worldwide commercial for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, has announced his retirement effective March 31," Sony said in an email to The Hollywood Reporter. "During his tenure at SPHE, Matt was a key member of the management team, which helped to ensure the division's leadership position in the home entertainment industry. SPHE wishes to express gratitude for his contributions."

In addition to Brown leaving the company, Sony Pictures Entertainment is rumored cut a significant number of jobs next week, possibly even as early as Monday, according to a Deadline report.

"You wouldn't be wrong to describe it as a high state of panic over here," a Sony Pictures Entertainment employee told Deadline.

Layoffs aren't just affecting Sony's Hollywood arm -- Sony announced in early March that it would be slashing jobs in Australia and New Zealand.

"In line with Sony Corporation's February 6 earnings announcement outlining global headcount reduction, together with the decision to cease ranging VAIO products in the ANZ markets as of June 2014, Sony has implemented some organizational changes resulting in a number of redundancies across A/NZ," reads a Sony statement.

Sony did not disclose how many employees were let go.

The layoffs are all part of Sony's latest restructuring efforts. The popular Japanese-based electronics manufacturer revealed in February that it expects to lose over $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year on March 31. As a way to save money, Sony said it would let go of 5,000 workers worldwide. Of these, 1,500 jobs will be lost in Japan, and the other 3,500 around the world.

The 2014 round of job cuts at Sony are the third the company has announced since nine years ago. In 2005, Sony said it would shed 10,000 jobs; in 2008, another 8,000 jobs; and in 2010, 10,000 jobs. This leaves Sony's workforce at approximately 145,000, according to the New York Times.

Sony will also shut down its PC arm, VAIO, as part of the restructuring. The VAIO brand began in 1996, and quickly became a slick alternative to competitors like Dell, HP, and Compaq. Sony is currently hunting for investors to take over VAIO. Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai called the move to sell Vaio "agonizing" at a press conference in Tokyo.

Americans and Canadians will also lose access to Sony's e-reader service, Reader Store. The Reader Store will remain open until March 20, 6 p.m. EST, after which Reader Store customers will be forwarded to another e-reader service.

"Although we're sorry to say goodbye to the Reader Store, we're also glad to share the new and exciting future for our readers: Reader Store will transfer customers to Toronto-based eReading company, Kobo -- an admired eBook seller with a passionate reading community. We strongly believe that this transition will allow customers to enjoy a continued high-quality e-reading experience," reads a Reader Store blog post.