Disney plans thousands of layoffs as managers are told to cut costs by 20%

In brief

• Walt Disney is reportedly preparing layoffs that could affect several thousand employees.
• Some managers have been asked to find cost savings equal to 20% of annual spending.
• Savings are planned to fund film and TV production, technology and theme parks.
• The cuts follow years of restructuring at a company with about 231,000 employees.

Cuts could reach several thousand jobs

Walt Disney is preparing a new round of layoffs that could affect several thousand employees, according to Bloomberg News (Disney znów będzie zwalniał pracowników. Oszczędności na inwestycje – Wirtualnemedia.pl) (Disney plans several thousand layoffs, asks some managers to cut costs by up to 20% – CNBC). Reports say some managers have been asked to find savings equal to 20% of their annual costs (Walt Disney podle médií plánuje zrušit několik tisíc pracovních míst – Seznam Zprávy) (Disney chystá největší letošní vlnu propouštění – Novinky.cz). Disney has not publicly confirmed the figures.

Where the cuts would land

According to the reports, the reductions would fall on several areas at once: cost cuts would come from job losses as well as from trimming other spending categories (Disney уволит тысячи сотрудников ради сокращения расходов – Meduza). The heaviest pressure is expected at the company's TV networks, its movie studio and its theme parks (Disney layoffs are coming again: TV networks, the movie studio and theme parks brace for deep cuts – msn.com).

Money to be reinvested

The company wants to redirect part of the savings into its own growth, specifically into film and TV production, technology and theme parks (Disney szykuje tysiące zwolnień. Menedżerowie mają ograniczyć koszty o 20 proc. – Puls Biznesu). Chief executive Josh D'Amaro is said to plan spending on film and television content, theme parks and cruise operations.

Part of a longer restructuring

The move follows several years of cost reductions. Disney has already cut billions of dollars in spending and eliminated thousands of positions across its units, including ABC, ESPN, Pixar and Disney studios. At the end of its last fiscal year the company employed about 231,000 people.

Industry context

Rivals are also reducing headcount as income from traditional television falls and growth in streaming subscribers slows. Netflix, Sony Pictures, and the Paramount and Warner Bros. units are among those cutting jobs, according to Bloomberg.