Current Events > Disney will layoff thousands of employees described as a "bloodbath."

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://deadline.com/2023/03/disney-layoffs-coming-annual-shareholder-meeting-bob-iger-1235303513/

Disney Layoff Rounds Likely Starting Before Annual Meeting; Details On Cuts Emerge

EXCLUSIVE: With Disneys April 3 shareholder meeting a virtual affair this year less than two weeks away, some clarity is emerging about the companys plans to reduce staff and cut costs.

Insiders tell Deadline that multiple rounds of cuts are being prepared. The first one is being targeted for late March, likely next week, we hear. (March 30 or March 31 have been floated as possible dates, but that has not been confirmed.) According to sources, there will be a big wave in late April, described as the big one or a bloodbath, when a large portion of the cuts are expected to come.

Information varies on a potential third round of layoffs. Some say it might come between the one in late March and the one in late April, while others note that it could follow the one in late April if its deemed necessary. Disney declined to comment...

...CEO Bob Iger revealed the scope of the cuts during the companys February 8 quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts. Plans to let go of 7,000 staffers, roughly 3% of the companys global workforce, are not being taken lightly, Iger said. The paring down of employee rolls is a cornerstone of the effort to reach $5.5 billion in overall cost savings.

Following his promise to investors, Iger is determined to make a statement in the coming weeks, one insider says.

The cuts are expected to be spread across the companys three divisions Entertainment; ESPN; and Parks, Experiences and Products with marketing and distribution including at the disbanded Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution unit among the business areas ripe for consolidation. Virtually every part of the sprawling Entertainment division is expected to be impacted in a meaningful way. There have been rumors about potential significant cuts at Hulu as well as sister studios ABC Signature and 20th Television both on the business and content side. Despite rampant speculation about the two major TV studios potentially merging operations in some form, that still does not appear to be imminent.

ESPN, which is now its own distinct corporate division, also is being scrutinized. While it has thinned its ranks in recent years as pay-TV distribution has fallen from a peak of 100 million households in 2011 to about 74 million, the sports power at the same time is confronting a steady rise in rights fees. Stephen A. Smith, one of ESPNs top personalities, recently noted that the network is going to have cuts coming. He addressed the topic on a recent episode of his podcast Know Mercy, which is produced outside of Disney by Audacys Cadence13. Hell, for all I know, I might be one of them, mused Smith, who reportedly makes more than $13 million a year for hosting First Take, among many other roles. Now, I doubt that. But its possible. No one knows.

At the time of last months earnings report, Iger said $1 billion of the cost savings target was under way. A month later, during an appearance at a Morgan Stanley conference, he identified one specific area of overlap created under former CEO Bob Chapek. The marketing of streaming services, he said, had become disconnected from the marketing of individual series or movies. That needed to be put back together, not just because for sanity purposes, but also because there are opportunities to reduce expenses, he said.

Disney is far from alone in paring back. Media and tech companies have laid off thousands of workers during recent turbulent months, with spiking interest rates and foreign currency gyrations among the economic headwinds.

Investors initially cheered Igers revelation about streamlining, boosting shares, but the stock has fallen back in recent weeks. It closed Tuesday at $96.54 and has risen about 2% in 2023 to date. Even so, shares now are not much higher than where they crash-landed in March 2020. That was just after Iger passed the CEO baton to Bob Chapek and Covid was beginning to lay siege to almost all of Disneys operations.

3% is a blood bath?

Shitty, seems like the big tech isnt quite the future yet

Something's going on over there because they're cutting off some of the cooperate heads too. Victoria Alonso got officially axed.

How can this Putin?

I hope those people get better jobs and are better off.

Quick! Pump out some more shitty live-action remakes of famous classics!

Mr. Iger, I dont feel very good! Mickey Mouse as the Disney empire continues to get financially Thanos snapped out of existence

Getting a severance package is my dream

A_Good_Boy posted...

3% is a blood bath?

Sounds more like getting rid of overhiring tbh. 3% is nowhere near a bloodbath.

7500 is a lot of employees

What the fuck?!

This is a goddamn bloodbath!

Needs more zeroes

Cuticrusader09 posted...

Sounds more like getting rid of overhiring tbh. 3% is nowhere near a bloodbath.

I'd assume a hell of a lot of this is going to be ESPN.
Cable is still dying, and all the sports leagues are Yojimbo'ing the outlets against each-other.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I'd assume a hell of a lot of this is going to be ESPN.
Cable is still dying, and all the sports leagues are Yojimbo'ing the outlets against each-other.

Yeah Im sure the layoffs for ESPN will be a bloodbath, but it wont be as bad for other divisions.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

That's about 230000, unless I derped the math. Seems right for an international media company that keeps buying other companies.

Monolith1676 posted...

I hope those people get better jobs and are better off.

Well jeez, you would think Disney is one of the best employers in the world