Disney Announces Massive Layoffs, Hundreds Lose Jobs as Company Cuts Costs

The Walt Disney Company began a new round of layoffs on Monday, letting go of several hundred employees and reducing staff in its Disney Entertainment divisions. According to Deadline, most of the job cuts happened in areas like film and television marketing, publicity, casting, and development. The layoffs affected both the film and TV sides of Disney Entertainment, with no entire teams being eliminated. Most of the employees impacted worked in Los Angeles.

This marks the fourth—and largest—wave of layoffs at Disney in the past 10 months. The company is continuing to cut costs as it shifts its focus from traditional media to streaming, while also dealing with tough economic conditions. Disney CEO Bob Iger set a target of at least $7.5 billion in cost reductions when he returned in early 2023, resulting in about 7,000 jobs being cut that year.

As Deadline reported earlier:

“the size of the cuts on the film and TV side of Disney Entertainment is comparable. No teams are being eliminated. The majority of the Disney Entertainment Television staffers are said to be based in Los Angeles…

This is the fourth — and largest — round of layoffs in the past 10 months that has affected various Disney television operations. They are part of an ongoing cost-cutting process at the traditional media companies as they reshape their business to focus on streaming while facing economic headwinds. Disney’s Bob Iger set the pace upon his return as CEO, establishing a goal of at least $7.5 billion in cost reductions at the start of 2023, with about 7,000 jobs eliminated that year.”

The latest layoffs come after Disney let go of nearly 200 workers in March, following a major restructuring last October. Reports also show that Disney’s theme parks have been struggling. Executives are concerned that rising ticket prices are pushing away their core customers—middle-class families.

As one report put it, “Executives at the Walt Disney Company are reportedly worried that soaring prices are alienating families from its theme parks, with internal surveys showing a decline in guests who are planning return visits to Walt Disney World and Disneyland.”

The Wall Street Journal found that “the price of attending a Disney park has skyrocketed in recent years, with the typical price of a four-day stay inside the park rising by $1,000 between 2019 and 2024.” Nearly 80 percent of that increase comes from new charges for services that used to be free.

Disney has not announced any plans to stop the layoffs, and more details are expected as the company continues to make changes.

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