Disney To Lay Off 7,000 In Blockbuster $5.5 Billion Cost-Cutting Move

BURBANK, CA — The Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. will slash 7,000 jobs, in an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs, CEO Bob Iger announced Wednesday.

The job cuts amount to about 3 percent of the entertainment giant's global workforce and were announced Wednesday after Disney reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

The long-rumored cuts are the latest round of mass layoffs roiling the tech and entertainment industries. It wasn't immediately clear where Disney's cutbacks would be concentrated nor how the theme parks and entertainment divisions would be affected. Iger did not release details on how soon the layoffs would begin.

Disney's streaming competitors such as Netflix have been shedding hundreds of jobs since the summer. Tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Twitter and Meta have laid off tens of thousands of employees in the last six months. Meta announced 11,000 layoffs in the fall and was quikcly rewarded by the stock market. Meta’s stock value surged 20 percent in the wake of its cost-cutting moves.

The possibility of layoffs at Disney has been rumored for weeks, with Iger regaining his footing in the CEO's office following the surprise ouster of CEO Bob Chapek in November.

As of Oct. 1, Disney employed 220,000 people, of which about 166,000 worked in the U.S. and 54,000 internationally.

In its latest results, solid growth at Disney’s theme parks helped offset tepid performance in its video streaming and movie business.

Disney said Wednesday that it earned $1.28 billion, or 70 cents per share, in the three months through Dec. 31. That compares with net income of $1.1 billion, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.

Iger broke the news during an earnings call Wednesday afternoon, following the release of the company's first-quarter earnings report.

Iger said he is targeting $5.5 billion in cost savings "across the company."

"To help achieve this we will be reducing our workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs," he said. "While this is necessary to address the challenges we are facing today, I do not make this decision lightly. I have enormous respect and appreciation for the talent and dedication of our employees worldwide and (am) mindful of the personal impact of these changes."

Iger said the company's organizational structure was being changed, with the company being divided into a trio of divisions -- Disney Entertainment; ESPN; and Parks, Experiences and Products.

The move is an undoing of the changes that Chapek instituted when he took over the company three years ago.

Iger said the restructuring will return "greater authority to our creative leaders" while also making them "accountable for how their content performs financially."

"Our former structure severed that link and must be restored," he said. "Moving forward, our creative teams will determine what content we're making, how it is distributed and monetized and how it gets marketed."

The Associated Press, City News Service, and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.