An entertainment and media company, Walt Disney, popularly known as Disney, announced Wednesday that it would be laying off 7,000 jobs, representing 3.6 percent of its entire workforce.
The company seeks to save Ksh.687 billion in costs and make its streaming businesses profitable.
The announcement comes after Bob Iger was reinstated as the firm’s Chief executive officer.
According to Reuters, the company will restructure into three segments – an entertainment unit encompassing film, television and streaming, a sports-focused ESPN unit, and Disney parks, experiences and products.
“This reorganization will result in a more cost-effective, coordinated approach to our operations,” Iger told analysts on a conference call as reported by the agency, adding, “We are committed to running efficiently, especially in a challenging environment.”
Streaming remains Disney’s top priority.
In 2020 during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, Disney sent home about 4,000 workers due to pandemic effects.
In late September same year, the company had already announced plans to terminate 28,000 theme park workers.
“Due to the current climate, including COVID-19 impacts, and changing environment in which we are operating, the company has generated efficiencies in its staffing, including limiting hiring to critical business roles, furloughs and reductions-in-force,” the SEC document filed on the eve of Thanksgiving Day that year revealed.
Disney is the latest among multinational companies in the United States that have announced plans to cut workforce in first quarter of the year.
Google, Dell, and Microsoft among others also announced similar plans where thousands of people in the US and other territories where the companies operate will be left jobless as inflation bites on.
