Disney reported $23.6 billion in revenue for the second quarter of the year. And they’re laying off hundreds of employees. Since 2023, they’ve eliminated over 8,000 jobs across their businesses in an effort to reduce costs. Read on for more details.
What Teams At Disney Are Impacted?
Disney sources have shared that, while hundreds of employees will be affected by the layoffs, they aren’t eliminating any teams completely. Most of the jobs are in marketing for television and for film, publicity for television, casting and development, and corporate financial operations. Many of these employees may be based in Los Angeles, CA.
The precise number of employees being affected by the layoffs has not been shared.
Why Lay Off Employees?
A spokesperson told CBS News, “As our industry transforms at a rapid pace, we continue to evaluate ways to efficiently manage our businesses while fueling the state-of-the-art creativity and innovation that consumers value and expect from Disney. As part of this ongoing work, we have identified opportunities to operate more efficiently and are eliminating a limited number of positions today.”
What does that mean? They’re streamlining because consumers are choosing streaming over linear television more often now. According to Yahoo! Finance, Disney had a drop of 13% in their television revenue and an increase of 8% for streaming. With this information, it looks like they’re moving towards streaming more than the content made for television and cable networks. CEO Bob Iger also mentioned at the annual shareholder meeting that new jobs will be created. Those will primarily be for Disney theme parks and experiences.
Previous Rounds of Layoffs
There have been four rounds of layoffs that started in October of 2024. At that time, they merged ABC Signature into 20th Television and united the ABC and Hulu originals comedy and drama groups. Then, in March, about 6% of the ABC News Group and Disney entertainment networks were eliminated. In July, about 140 employees were laid off, many from National Geographic.
What About Leadership?
It’s worth noting that Disney’s annual filing reported that CEO Bob Iger’s pay package for 2024 was valued at $41.1 million. This was primarily stock and options. In 2023, he received $31.6 million. That’s quite the loot haul. Additionally, CFO Hugh Johnston received a package equalling $24.5 million. Horacio Guttierez, the chief legal and compliance officer, received $15.8 million. We’ll leave you with that information to consider.
