Major layoffs are sweeping through the Walt Disney Co., hitting hundreds of employees across entertainment and corporate divisions as the media giant escalates its cost-cutting efforts. Most of the cuts are centered in Disney Entertainment, including film and TV marketing, television publicity, casting, and development, Deadline reports. Financial operations are also affected. While no entire teams are being eliminated, staff reductions are occurring on both the film and TV sides. The number of people laid off is expected to be in the hundreds, though a Disney spokesperson says the cuts will be "surgical," reports CBS News.
This marks the fourth—and largest—round of layoffs Disney has seen in the past 10 months, all part of efforts to reduce costs as the company refocuses on streaming amid broader industry and economic challenges. CEO Bob Iger set a cost-cutting target of at least $7.5 billion for the company upon his return in 2023, which included 7,000 job cuts that year.
The previous rounds included nearly 200 workers laid off in March from groups like ABC News, Freeform, and FX; a fall 2023 restructuring that folded ABC Signature into 20th Television and integrated creative teams, resulting in another 30 layoffs; and a July 2023 round that saw about 140 employees go, including 60 from National Geographic. The current wave of layoffs comes shortly after Disney's second-quarter earnings beat expectations, with strong performance in its experiences and sports divisions and a jump in direct-to-consumer streaming profits. At this spring's annual shareholder meeting, Iger noted job creation in areas like theme parks, even as cuts continue across media divisions. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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