The Walt Disney Company, in a cost-cutting move, plans to start layoffs, implement a targeted hiring freeze, and limit company travel.
As I mentioned diverse, Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent an internal memo to the company’s top executives on Friday, November 11, saying the coming weeks will be difficult.
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chabek. (Image source: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I am fully aware that this is going to be a difficult process for many of you and your teams,” Chappe said. “We will have to make difficult and uncomfortable decisions. But that is exactly what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has overcome many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt that we will achieve our goals and create a more smarter and better suited to tomorrow’s environment.”
During this process, Disney will also conduct a “careful review of the company’s content and marketing expenses.” This review will be led by the newly formed “Cost Structure Task Force,” a group that includes Entanglement, CFO Christina McCarthy, and General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez.
The moves come on the heels of Disney’s quarterly earnings results that saw an operating loss for its broadcast division of $1.47 billion. While revenue increased 8% to $4.9 billion, it also saw a 5% decline for Disney’s linear TV networks in the quarter. Disney also saw the company’s shares drop recently to 13.16%, marking the lowest drop in two years.
On the bright side, Disney+ beat Wall Street expectations with 164.2 million subscribers and the streaming service expects to “make profitable in fiscal year 2024.”
It’s as if several major companies are going through different cost-cutting measures, as this news follows similar layoffs at Twitter, Meta and Microsoft.
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Adam Pankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter Tweet embed and on Twitch.
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