Disney will cut ‘thousands’ of jobs amid more layoffs: reports

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by Thomas Baraby

April 19, 2023 | 4:22 p.m

Disney will reportedly lay off “thousands” of employees next week in the second wave of an ongoing bloodbath that is expected to lead to 7,000 job cuts.

Some affected Disney workers will receive their pink slips on April 24, Bloomberg reportedCiting people familiar with the company’s plans.

The layoffs are expected to affect jobs across Disney’s global business, which was reorganized into three divisions in February — one called “Disney Entertainment” that includes film, TV and broadcast assets, one for sports media giant ESPN and one for the Mouse House theme parks and experiences.

Disney Entertainment will bear a large portion of the job layoffs — roughly 15% of the division’s employees are set to leave next week, according to the report.

Disney has more than 200,000 employees across its businesses.

ESPN will also cut staff levels as part of a wave of layoffs next week, According to a separate CNBC report.

Sources told the outlet that the cuts would include some on-air talent and management, but the exact number of ESPN employees who were poised to exit remains unclear.

The latest round will follow an initial set of layoffs that occurred in late March.

Among the casualties in the first wave of layoffs was Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the famous head of Marvel Entertainment.

Perlmutter was ousted after a failed attempt to change Disney’s board of directors, though he remains a major shareholder.

In an interview with Time magazine, Egger called Perlmutter’s firing “a necessary step in the direction of creating a more efficient company.”

Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger outlined the company’s plan for three waves of layoffs as part of a plan to cut $5.5 billion in costs.

The entertainment giant has faced shareholder pressure to trim its balance sheet in the wake of a share slump under Iger’s predecessor, former CEO Bob Chapek.

Of the $5.5 billion in savings, about $3 billion is related to spending cuts on non-sports content, while $2.5 billion is related to operational cost reductions.

At the time, Egger acknowledged that a “larger second round of notifications” would be sent to employees in April and consist of “several thousand headcount cuts.”

The Disney chief said the third and final wave will happen “before the start of summer to reach our goal of 7,000 jobs.”

“For our employees who were not affected, I would like to acknowledge that there will undoubtedly be challenges ahead as we continue to build the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful going forward,” Iger said in the memo.

Egger called the layoffs “significant cost-saving measures necessary to create a more efficient, streamlined and streamlined approach to our business.”

Disney shares fell about 2% in trading Wednesday.

The Post has reached out to Disney for comment.

Disney job cuts are set to unfold as the entertainment giant gets into an ongoing dispute with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the company’s Florida operations.

This week, DeSantis said the GOP-controlled Florida legislature will move to cancel an 11-hour development deal that undermines the governor’s move to put a state-appointed council in charge of Disney’s own tax district.