Hillsboro animation studio Laika laid off 15% of its staff last week, citing work restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“With no end in sight to the pandemic, we have rolled off 56 of staff from our crew with the intention to hire them back at a future date when we can expand the number of people we can safely have in our buildings,” Laika said in a written statement.

Laika said it intends to rehire the laid-off staffers when it’s safe to expand the number of people working in the studio. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the layoffs Friday.

Laika films its stop-motion productions on a soundstage in a converted Hillsboro warehouse, just south of U.S. Highway 26. Most of Laika’s 362 employees have been working remotely since April, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but the studio now has opted to cut costs with the layoffs.

Laika’s last film, 2019’s “Missing Link,” won the Golden Globe award for best animated feature. The movie also fetched an Academy Award nomination in the animation category, like each of Laika’s other five films. None of Laika’s films has nabbed an Oscar yet, though.

Laika has been working on its sixth movie for some time. It hasn’t announced a writer, director, title or release date, but court records show it had been exploring the possibility of adapting a time-travel script about the Beatles.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight owns Laika and his son, veteran animator Travis Knight, is Laika’s CEO.

While “Missing Link” was warmly reviewed by critics, it grossed just $26 million at the box office — less than half of the $60 million Laika spent in Oregon on the production, according to state records. The studio received $5.9 million in state tax incentives over five years to help finance the production.

Though stop-motion animation is beloved by animation enthusiasts and Laika’s offbeat storytelling has won a devoted following, it’s not clear that combination has broad box-office appeal. Travis Knight said last winter the studio has explored the possibility of moving to streaming.

Streaming giant Netflix is filming two stop-motion animated movies in Portland – an adaptation of Pinocchio by Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, and “Wendell and Wild,” from the comedy duo of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key and former Laika director Henry Selick.

Tim Williams, executive director of the state’s film office, said Monday that both those movies have resumed production with new safety protocols in place and some people working remotely.