Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday that they are set to lay off 7,000 workers. The company is targeting a total of $5.5 billion in cost savings, and $3 billion in cuts will come from content, excluding sports, while $2.5 billion will come from non-content cuts. Iger, who rejoined the company as CEO in November, said: “This reorganization will result in a more cost-effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our operations. I do not make this decision lightly.”
The layoffs amount to roughly 3% of the company’s 220,000 workers worldwide, and will coincide with a restructuring that will divide the company into three core businesses: Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks. Before the layoff announcement, the company released an earnings report which stated that Disney brought in $23.5 billion in revenue over the three months ending in December, which marked an 8% growth over the same period a year prior. However the company’s streaming service, Disney+, lost subscribers for the first time since its launch in 2019. The service dropped 2.4 million subscribers, more than analysts expected. Shares of Disney rose nearly 8% in after-hours trading.
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