American multinational mass media and entertainment company Disney has commenced the downsizing of its workforce in a second round of layoff, as it is set to lay off 4,000 employees, as part of a restructuring.
Disney last month notified its workforce of a first wave of layoffs, which saw the company cut jobs in its metaverse strategies unit and part of its Beijing office. Earlier this year, employees were informed of the company’s plan to slash 7,000 jobs, which is about 3% of the roughly 220,000 people it employed as of Oct.1, as part of a larger reorganization of the company that will see it cut costs by $5.5 billion.
The second round of layoffs which will be completed on Thursday this week will affect various divisions across the company, which include Disney Entertainment and ESPN, as well as Disney parks, Experiences, and products.
The company’s CEO Bob Iger earlier this year disclosed that Disney’s reductions would include cutting $3 billion in contest expenses, excluding sports, and the remaining $2.5 billion from non-content cuts.
The move marks the most significant action Bob Iger has taken since returning to the company as CEO in November, while noting that he has no intention to stay longer than two years in his post.
Shortly after his return, Iger sent a memo to employees announcing the business would be reorganized, particularly the Disney Media and Entertainment unit. He also added that he would put more decision-making back in the hands of the company’s creative teams and rationalize costs at the time.
He has so far restructured the media company into three divisions designed to improve profit margins and give content executives responsible for their successes and failures.
Investors King understands that Iger’s reorganization plan will result in a more cost-effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to Disney’s operations, while being committed to running the company more efficiently, especially in this current challenging economic environment. In that regard, Disney is targeting $5.5 billion in cost savings across the company.