The Walt Disney Company will lay off several thousand employees this week, a second round of cutbacks that is part of a previously announced plan to wean itself off. 7,000 jobs this year.
The latest staff releases will be released Monday through Thursday, according to Disney officials. The company will have reached approximately 4,000 job cuts when factors in both the first and second rounds of layoffs are factored in.
Jobs are being cut across various business verticals, including entertainment, ESPN, theme parks, experiences, and products.
One of the more notable layoffs including ESPN VP / Corporate Communications Mike Soltys.
Soltys has been with the network for 43 of its 44 years on the air and was the network’s second longest-serving employee.
The latest staff releases will be released Monday through Thursday, according to Disney officials. The company will have reached approximately 4,000 job cuts when factors in both the first and second rounds of layoffs are factored in.
In a tweet on Monday, Soltys wrote: “My final statement as an ESPN spokesperson: ‘An amazing 43 years. amazing. We wish him well.
Cuts are also happening in various locations, including Burbank, California, New York and Connecticut.
The company previously said it did not expect job cuts to affect hourly frontline operations roles at its Parks and Resorts.
Disney expects to begin a third round of job cuts before the start of the summer in order to reach its 7,000 removals goal.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February that the company would cut about 7,000 jobs as part of an ambitious company-wide cost-saving plan and “strategic realignment.”
The job cuts amount to about three percent of the entertainment giant’s global workforce.
Disney said the job cuts are part of the $5.5 billion target cost savings across the Burbank-based company.
Disney shares were down slightly at midday Monday.
One of the more notable layoffs including ESPN VP / Corporate Communications Mike Soltys. Soltys has been with the network for 43 of its 44 years on the air and was the second longest serving employee of the network
Disney parks employ the majority of workers in the United States — about 100,000 people in 2020, according to the latest publicly available figures — but it’s unclear exactly how many employees are being cut from each department.
These plans were first reported before bloombergbut it is in line with an announcement in February in which the company said it would cut 7,000 jobs to cut annual costs by $5.5 billion.
The company is currently locked in a bitter war with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who is trying to dissolve a private government controlled by Walt Disney World that provides municipal-like services to its 27,000 acres of land in Florida.
The Walt Disney Company will cut thousands of employees next week, including 15 percent of its entertainment division. Filmed at Disney HQ Studios in Burbank, California
Disney has been adjusting to new leadership since former CEO Bob Iger (pictured) returned in November after retiring from the same position in 2020.
ESPN, which came under Disney ownership in 1995, is one of the company’s smallest divisions with only about 5,000 employees worldwide as of 2023, according to its website.
Disney has been adjusting to new leadership since former CEO Bob Iger returned in November after retiring from the same position in 2020.
His hiring was prompted by a sharp decline in the share price, which began after the streaming division posted a $1.5 billion loss in the quarter ending Oct. 1.
In February, he announced the biggest change since his comeback in an effort to cut costs — $3 billion in content, excluding sports, and the remaining $2.5 billion in non-content.
Under his new leadership, the restructuring has seen power returned to a number of creative executives – including senior lieutenants Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, who are both considered contenders for the CEO position over the next two years.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro will lead that segment and Josh D’Amaro will remain in control of the Disney parks.
Disney parks employ the majority of workers in the United States – about 100,000 people in 2020
Ron DeSantis has threatened to build a state prison next to Walt Disney World in Florida
DeSantis is trying to solve a private government controlled by Disney that provides municipal-like services to its 27,000 acres of land in Florida.
As part of an entrenched war between DeSantis and Disney, the Florida governor earlier this week threatened to build a state prison next to Walt Disney World.
This is widely seen as a retaliation after Disney outmaneuvered him in March by using a mysterious legal loophole that allowed it to strip power from the oversight board it had put in place to control the Florida theme park.
The rift between The Walt Disney Company and DeSantis erupted in March 2022, when DeSantis passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would ban classroom teaching about gender identity.
Disney has spoken out against the law — relying on private legal concessions it has held for decades in the so-called Reedy Creek Improvement District, which covers 40 square miles of company-owned land.
