An estimated 300 people have been laid off across Disney Global, with more cutbacks expected in the coming days.
A company spokesperson said in a statement that the cuts were made in an effort to make “corporate-level functions” operate more efficiently.
“We continually evaluate ways to invest in our businesses and more effectively manage our resources and costs to fuel the state-of-the-art creativity and innovation that consumers value and expect from Disney,” the spokesperson said. “As part of this ongoing optimization work, we have been reviewing the cost structure for our corporate-level functions and have determined there are ways for them to operate more efficiently.”
The employees affected are all in the U.S., but Disney’s corporate operations were impacted across divisions, including legal, HR, finance and communications. No cuts were made to theme parks, ESPN or Disney Entertainment.
In July, layoffs across Disney Entertainment Television lead to unscripted divisions for ABC and Hulu being combined, leading to the exits of top execs, including Belisa Balaban, Hulu Originals’ SVP Original Documentaries and Unscripted Series, and Tiffany Faigus, who served SVP Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment, ABC Entertainment and Walt Disney Television Alternative. Approximately 140 staffers were affected at the time, with Disney-owned National Geographic staff hit the hardest with a 13% reduction.
Disney CEO Bob Iger first announced planned layoffs a year ago following the underwhelming box office of Walt Disney tentpoles such as “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “The Little Mermaid.”
“Looking to Disney’s entertainment studios, we’re focused on improving the quality of our films and on better economics, not just reducing the number of titles we release, but also the cost per title,” Iger said during the earnings call for Q3 2023.
Wednesday’s Disney corporate cuts came one day after Paramount+ gutted its communications team, marking Paramount Global’s latest round of layoffs as part of its 15% reduction of its U.S. workforce. Senior vice presidents Morgan Seal and Amanda Cary are among those impacted.
Deadline first reported of Disney’s layoffs.
