Bad News from Disney: Fans Need to Take a Breath

The American entertainment and media giant, Disney, plans to carry out large-scale redundancies by cutting around 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, as reported by US media outlet The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday (8/4), citing several related sources. According to the report, the implementation of these redundancies represents one of the first significant steps under its new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, with the cuts to be made mainly in the company’s marketing department. WSJ reported that, like many other Hollywood studios, Disney is striving to adapt to smaller profits from streaming services than what it previously obtained from conventional television broadcasts, as well as to the decline in box office profits and fierce competition from several technology companies. Disney is also working to allocate funds to invest in digital businesses with growth potential, according to the report. The company has already made redundancies affecting more than 8,000 employees since D’Amaro’s predecessor, Bob Iger, returned to the CEO position in 2022 and began a major restructuring. The plan for the upcoming redundancies was initiated before D’Amaro took over the position, according to several people familiar with the redundancy steps, as quoted in the report. D’Amaro has not outlined specific plans for reorganising Disney since taking over the position last month, according to the report. It was also mentioned that people close to the company said one of his priorities is to make various divisions collaborate more quickly and efficiently. D’Amaro (54) officially assumed the role of CEO of The Walt Disney Company on 18 March. This veteran, who has been with Disney for 28 years, served as head of Disney’s experiences segment since 2020, and previously as president of Walt Disney World Resort.