American company Walt Disney is preparing for another large-scale workforce reduction, planning to eliminate thousands of jobs to reduce annual costs by 20%.
Divisions facing cuts
Layoffs are expected to primarily affect the film studio, television channels and theme parks. The funds saved are planned to be invested in film production, the cruise business and technology.
Which specific technologies are meant is unknown, but the source mentions speculation about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). The company also pledged “to increase adjusted earnings per share by a double-digit percentage in the current fiscal year.” A Disney spokesperson declined to comment on potential layoffs.
Previous cuts and workforce size
In recent years Disney has already cut costs by billions of dollars and eliminated thousands of jobs across ABC, Pixar, ESPN, the film studio and the entertainment business. At the end of the last fiscal year the company employed around 231 000 people worldwide.
Similar changes are occurring at Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Skydance and Warner Bros due to declining revenues from traditional television and slowing subscriber growth. Competition from social networks and online platforms that are investing in long-form content is also cited as a factor.
