Cirque du Soleil, the entertainment conglomerate that began with a troupe of street entertainers from Baie-Saint Paul, Que., and went on to conquer the world is expected to announce on Wednesday they are laying off up to 600 employees.

There are 5,000 people in total on the Cirque payroll, 2,000 of them in Montreal and 1,300 of them are classified by Cirque as “artists”.

This current move follows a disastrous 18-month period for the organization where four major shows closed around the world (Tokyo, Macau, Las Vegas and Los Angeles) and even the commercially successful ones like Michael Jackson: the Immortal World Tour faced drastically mixed criticism.

Long-time observers of Cirque wondered if the organization might have spread itself too thin with nearly two dozen shows at one point pouring out of their mission central in Montreal and an earlier layoff of public relations staff during December fueled those rumours further.

However, Renée-Claude Ménard, senior director of public relations for the organization told the Star on Tuesday that “Cirque is a billion dollar private business, that does not depend on any government grants, that has 19 unique productions currently reaching 14 million people per year!”

Further detailed information was promised for Wednesday, but it seems clear that retrenchment, rather than panic, is the mood of the day.

Entertainment industry sources in Las Vegas confirmed that some of Cirque’s greatest hits there, including “O”, Ka and Love are still consistently playing to capacity audiences, touring productions like Amaluna recently enjoyed a record-breaking run in Toronto, the newly released 3D film, Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away, has already grossed over $12 million and Michael Jackson: the Immortal World Tour is expected to settle in for a successful run in Las Vegas later this year.

But it’s also obvious the never-ending pattern of growth, which Cirque had enjoyed since its humble beginnings with a troupe of Quebec street entertainers in 1984, may finally have slowed down.

And for its founder, Guy Laliberté, who has gone from unemployment to a net worth of $2.6 billion in 28 years, the next stop is hardly the bread line.

“I think that we are not closing our doors just yet, we just want to keep creating,” said Menard, and until further information indicates otherwise, it would be best to believe her.