During Disney’s Q1 earnings call in February, CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would once again be restructuring and needed to hit $5.5 billion in cuts by the end of the year. With that announcement, we learned that 7,000 jobs would need to be cut. Two waves of layoffs have already happened and the third round started today.
Initially, it was thought to be a small round of cuts, less than 1,000, but according to Deadline, the total is likely to be around 2,500 jobs. Unlike the other waves, these jobs are not in specific sections of the company and are instead spread out throughout the company. However, no front-line theme park Cast Members are set to lose their jobs. It’s hard enough to keep those workers as it is.
Deadline did say that their sources have said the television division, which faced a large loss after the second round, was relatively untouched during the current wave of cuts.
The first round of layoffs hit on March 27, but the largest round was the second one that hit on April 26. Up until now, about 4,000 people were let go. Initially, it was said that some of the cuts would come from job positions that would remain unfilled. It’s unclear if that is still the case and, if so, how many jobs that would entail in addition to the 5,000-6,500 jobs that have been cut.
Hopefully, this marks the end of the culling so the remaining Disney employees can relax and get back to their jobs. I can’t imagine how stressful this was for so many.
Recently we’ve seen some executive decisions that could be part of the $5.5 billion goal, like the canceling of the Lake Nona project at a $1 billion savings and the removal of some shows and films on Disney+ and Hulu, at a $1.5-$1.8 billion savings.
Disney might be nearing its goal.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
Source: Deadline
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.
