Next Round of Disney Layoffs to Eliminate 15% of Entertainment Division

Shannen Ace

The Walt Disney Company building with Seven Dwarfs columns

Next Round of Disney Layoffs to Eliminate 15% of Entertainment Division

In their next round of layoffs, The Walt Disney Company will eliminate about 15% of the staff of their entertainment division, according to Bloomberg‘s sources.

The Walt Disney Company building with Seven Dwarfs columns

The Walt Disney Company looks to reduce its workforce by roughly 7,000 employees with three rounds of layoffs. Cuts in this second round will come from TV, film, theme parks, and corporate. Workers will be notified as early as April 24, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources.

These rounds of layoffs are not set to affect regular theme park employees. Approximately 28,000 Cast Members were already laid off during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bloomberg also noted that Disney’s shares were down 0.6% at $100.35 in pre-market trading.

The Walt Disney Company Layoffs

Bob Iger in front of The Walt Disney Company logo

Executives at The Walt Disney Company were asked by Iger to identify thousands of potential layoff candidates in an effort to cut nearly $5.5 billion in costs. Iger is reportedly on “a push for profitability” as his return to the company continues and the letting go of executives is reportedly just the start.

The first round of layoffs began in late March. Senior Vice President of Production for Hulu, Mark Levenstein, and Senior VP of Production Management & Operations For Freeform, Jayne Bieber, were among the first executives to be let go. Also laid off was VP of Corporate Communications for The Walt Disney Company, Jeffrey R. Epstein, and Marvel Entertainment Chairman, Ike Perlumutter. Disney’s “Metaverse” team was also terminated.

The company’s restructuring comes after previous CEO Bob Chapek was fired last November. Though many changes have already been made within the company after his exit, the stock price continues to be an issue. The majority of job cuts waited until after the April 3 shareholders meeting.

One other major change Iger implemented post-Chapek was abandoning a centralized distribution structure for content. Iger divided that corporate mass into three separate entities: Parks, Experiences and Products; Entertainment; and ESPN. Employees of all three divisions are being laid off.

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