Disney begins the first round of 7,000 expected job cuts
WALT Disney has begun the first of what is expected to be 7,000 job cuts, a key part of a US$5.5 billion savings drive the company announced in February.
The first group of employees will be notified over the next four days, chief executive officer Bob Iger said in a memo to staff on Monday (Mar 27). A second, larger round will happen in April, impacting several thousand workers. The last of the affected workers will receive notice before summer.
Iger, who in November rejoined the company he led for 15 years, has laid out plans to improve the financial performance of the world’s largest entertainment company. Among his challenges, wringing profit from the company’s streaming TV businesses, which lost more than US$1 billion in the quarter that ended in December.
Under Iger, the company is doing away with an organisational structure that put distribution executives over the company’s TV and movie businesses. He has given more power to creative leaders such as Dana Walden, who heads the TV business, and Alan Bergman, who runs the film studios.
The cuts are expected to fall on all parts of the company, including theme parks and the ESPN sports networks. Disney employed about 220,000 people worldwide as of Oct 1. Approximately 25 per cent are part-time or seasonal employees.
Iger said in February about US$3 billion of the targeted cost savings would come from its budget for films and TV shows, and the rest from non-content related areas. About US$1 billion of the savings effort was already underway, he said at the time.
Disney shares are up about 9 per cent this year. They fell 44 per cent in 2022, their second straight annual decline. BLOOMBERG
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