Disney Layoff News: According to a letter sent by Disney CEO Bob Iger to employees of Walt Disney Co, the company will start notifying the first group of affected employees about the upcoming layoffs in the next four days. The job cuts, aimed at reducing costs and streamlining the business, will impact several major divisions including Disney Entertainment, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and corporate. The first round of layoffs, totaling 7,000 employees, began on Monday. A larger round of job cuts, affecting several thousand more employees, will take place in April. The final round is expected to start before the summer.
This move by Disney comes amid a retrenchment in the entertainment industry, which initially embraced video streaming with great enthusiasm. Established media companies incurred significant losses as they launched competitors to Netflix Inc.
ALSO READ: Akasa Air to hire nearly 1,000 people by March 2024
As soon as Netflix recorded its first loss of subscribers in a decade in early 2022, the entertainment industry began to control its expenses and focus on profitability rather than subscriber growth.
In February, the Burbank-based entertainment conglomerate declared its plans to reduce 7,000 jobs, aiming to save $5.5 billion in costs and turn its unprofitable streaming business into a profitable one.
According to a letter sent by Chief Executive Bob Iger, the difficult decision to lay off 7,000 employees as part of Disney's cost-cutting efforts was not taken lightly. Iger acknowledged that many of these colleagues and friends had a lifelong passion for Disney and their departure would be a difficult reality for the company.
ALSO READ: Now, Accenture to lay off 19,000 employees, cut around 2.5% workforce
The company had kept the details of the layoffs confidential, but insiders were expecting job cuts to take place before Disney's annual shareholder meeting on April 3.
It was widely speculated that the Disney Media and Entertainment Division would bear the brunt of the job cuts due to the recent corporate restructuring that led to its elimination. The division has been leaderless since Kareem Daniel's departure in November, which coincided with Bob Iger's return as CEO.
