Disney Sparks Wave of Layoffs Amid Company Restructuring

The Disney Company has ramped up layoffs this week yet again, a move that is reminiscent of the massive waves of layoffs that took place during the spring of 2023 and were described by some as a “bloodbath” from which no one at Disney was safe.

Massive Waves of Layoffs in 2023

In February 2023, shortly after Disney’s Board of Directors reinstated veteran CEO Bob Iger to his post, Iger announced plans for a massive cost-cutting initiative that was aimed at shaving $5.5 billion from the company’s expenditures.

Part of the plan called for the layoffs of 7,000 Walt Disney Company employees, though it wasn’t clear who would be laid off and who would remain.

“After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation,” Iger said during Disney’s earnings call on February 8 that year, “one that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises. We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity–while reducing expenses–will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges, and deliver value for our shareholders.”

In the weeks that followed, managers across the company were instructed to submit the names of their most useless and “replaceable” employees in an effort to help decide which employees would be slated for dismissal.

By the end of a series of cuts, a complete restructuring of the Disney Company’s divisions had been implemented, and thousands of Disney employees at ABC News, National Geographic, and Marvel, among other divisions of the company, had lost their jobs–a total of 7,000 jobs in all–in response to the Disney CEO mandate about cutting costs.

A New Wave of Layoffs Takes Hold This Week

This week, layoffs ramped up again, this time at Marvel Entertainment in New York and at Marvel Studios in Burbank, California.

Layoffs took place on Monday, and approximately 15 employees were left without employment. They included junior-level employees in production and development. No additional layoffs are anticipated beyond the ones that took place on Monday.

“We’ve reduced output, particularly at Marvel,” CEO Bob Iger said during The Walt Disney Company’s earnings call in February 2024. “When you fix or when you address these issues in movies, you do three things. You get aggressive at making sure the films you’re making can be even better. Sometimes, you kill projects you don’t believe in. And, of course, you put new things in the pipeline that you do believe in [and] that you have much more confidence in, and we’re doing all of that.”