Disney is weighing thousands of job cuts, telling managers to find 20% in yearly cost savings under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, according to a report.
Some parts of the vast House of Mouse, which includes a movie studio, TV channels and parks, will be hit harder than others in the bid to boost profitability, Bloomberg News reported.
D’Amaro wants to reinvest some of the savings into movie and TV programming, theme parks and cruises, and tech, according to the article, which cited people familiar with the plans.
The shakeup comes as Disney has been grappling with declining box office revenue, heightened competition from streaming rivals and weaker international demand for its theme parks – along with the challenges of embracing AI, Reuters noted.
The Bloomberg report did not say how many jobs would be affected by the cost-saving measures. Disney – which employed about 231,000 people at the end of last year – declined to comment to the Post.
Leaders have been slowly doling out staff reductions across departments in recent weeks, and some layoffs have already impacted people who help make the parks run.
Over 150 employees were cut from a division responsible for creative design in the theme parks. Workers at the Imagineering Department received pink slips last month.
Three hundred jobs were recently slashed in the HR and tech departments, too. Cuts in the marketing departments for Pixar, ABC News, and ESPN, along with reductions at the legal and global affairs unit, took effect last month.
Back in April, over 1,000 jobs were cut in marketing.
The leader of a 45,000-member strong union of Disney park employees voiced optimism his members would be spared.
“Disney is very good at restructuring themselves, and I’’m sure they are exploring all the right things to keep them competitive and profitable,” the leader, Eric Clinton, told the Post on Tuesday. “But for my personal and professional interests, our members would not be impacted by that.”
The company beat earnings expectations in its most recent quarter, with the parks and cruise departments driving growth. They brought in $10 billion in sales – up 10% from the same time last year.
Disney’s layoffs come as the entertainment industry has been pushing for greater efficiency in the age of infinite scroll and auto-play on smartphones.
Last month, Netflix cut about 6% of its workforce and shook up the C-suite. In the wake of its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Skydance announced voluntary buyouts for employees.