Disney The company is laying off about 300 employees in its latest round of job cuts since CEO Josh D’Amaro took the helm earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The majority of the cuts were in human resources and technology functions, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
In April, Disney planned to cut up to 1,000 positions as D’Amaro consolidated its corporate marketing division, CNBC reported at the time. Further reductions were made in July as the company reduced its workforce by several hundred people across all corporate functions, including at Pixar, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and Disney Studios, according to various media reports. The majority of these layoffs took place at Pixar and National Geographic.
Disney warned of the latest round of cuts in its August earnings report, saying it was exploring ways to reduce the company’s costs. Around this time, Disney also began offering early retirement buyout packages to longtime executives.
“We remain strongly focused on reducing costs across the business to create additional investment capacity for growth and are evaluating various levers, including reductions in labor and general and administrative expenses,” Disney said in that report. “We are midway through this work and will provide future updates on progress.”
Deadline was the first to report this latest round of layoffs.
D’Amaro became Disney CEO in March, replacing longtime CEO Bob Iger, and prioritized a strategy dubbed “One Disney” that aims to better align the company’s many divisions and integrate compatible businesses.
The goal is a seamless flywheel that brings together Disney’s intellectual property across its movie, streaming, theme parks, consumer goods, gaming and sports divisions, D’Amaro said.
Disney, like other traditional media companies, finds itself at an inflection point as streaming and digital entertainment overtake the traditional media landscape. In order to adapt and make new investments, the company has resorted to cost reductions and rationalization of its divisions.
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