Disney Set To Cut Thousands Of Jobs
Disney is projected to let go of 7,000 jobs next week.
If you work for Disney, you may want to dust off your resume as the conglomerate organization will cut thousands of jobs within the next week. This will impact jobs throughout the corporation, from TV to film and from theme parks to corporate offices, according to BNN Bloomberg. This is all in the wake of other recent massive layoffs, including the firing of Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter.
Though it may look like Disney is doing very well for itself with its streaming service and ever-growing business purchases, it actually lost out on $1.47 billion in one-quarter last year. In addition, their stocks are on the decline, with shares dropping down 0.6 percent to $100.35. Like the crew of a sinking ship desperately trying to bail out the water, Disney plans to cut a total of 7,000 jobs to save itself a whopping $5.5 billion in annual costs.
Maybe Disney wouldn’t have to cut costs and jobs if their new films were more successful. With Strange World and Lightyear flopping at the box office, the company has lost over $300 million. Perhaps some highly anticipated movies this year, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, will help make up for previous losses.
For those picturing abandoned theme parks and low-budget Marvel movies, you can breathe a sigh of relief (for now). Even though Disney does plan to cut 7,000 jobs, the company’s workforce has over 220,000 employees, so it won’t be too big of a dent. The biggest cut will be to Disney’s entertainment division which will lose about 15 percent of its employees.
Disney’s Bob Iger returned to his job as Chief Executive Officer last November to try and right the company’s ship after his successor Bob Chapek failed to do so. By trimming down and restructuring Disney’s workforce, Bob Iger plans to shift the company’s focus from entertainment to franchise properties and key brands. The CEO is giving more authority to the co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, which implies that their jobs are safe.
On top of all the layoffs and movie flops, Disney is also struggling to maintain its positive image and reputation in today’s media. The new Marvel star Jonathan Majors was arrested shortly after the release of his new film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania due to allegations of assault against a woman. On top of that, it appears that Disney is continuing to work with Marvel’s Mohan Kapur even after his allegations of child grooming.
And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, Disneyland is planning to close one of its classic, most popular rides: Splash Mountain. Disney fans are not happy about the ride closing, and they’re likely also in shock after Rebel Wilson was banned from the theme park for 30 days after taking a forbidden photo in Club 33’s bathroom.
We’ll all be sitting tight as Disney employees keep anxiously working until the job cuts begin in just a few days, starting on April 24.
