IT Home, November 3 — According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, Disney plans to lay off thousands of employees, with some managers instructed to reduce annual costs by 20%.
According to insiders, Disney will cut costs through layoffs and reducing other expenses.
Disney's operations span theme parks, television networks, film studios, and other areas, with some divisions expected to be more significantly impacted. According to insiders, Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro plans to allocate part of the saved funds toward movie and television production, technology development, and theme park and cruise line operations.
Disney previously committed to achieving double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth this fiscal year.
Over the past few years, Disney has cut billions of dollars in costs through multiple rounds of layoffs and other measures, eliminating thousands of positions across all business units, including ABC, Pixar, ESPN, the film studio, and experiences division. As of the end of the last fiscal year, Disney had 231,000 employees worldwide.
In October of this year, it was reported that Disney plans to restructure its television business and reduce staff in its legal and global affairs departments.
Currently, peers such as Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount, and Warner Bros. are also laying off employees. According to reports, declining revenue from traditional TV services and slowing growth in paid streaming subscribers have forced entertainment companies to cut labor costs. Meanwhile, an increasing number of viewers are shifting toward social media, online video platforms, and streaming services supported by tech giants like Amazon and Apple, adding further pressure on traditional entertainment companies.
Last month, Disney CEO Dana Walden said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles: “We must continuously evaluate whether our company’s structure and scale are appropriate. Tech companies are turning their attention to our business, and we must survive and continue to grow. We will do exactly that.”