The Walt Disney Company has announced a second round of layoffs this week, impacting Disney Entertainment, including Disney Parks and ESPN. This comes after the first round of layoffs on March 27, which saw 50 employees from the Metaverse division being laid off, along with some employees in Beijing.
In total, 4,000 employees will be laid off after the completion of the two rounds of layoffs. A third round of layoffs is also expected to take place before the summer, resulting in a total of 7,000 employees being laid off, which accounts for about 3% of Disney’s total workforce of over 220,000 people.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated that these layoffs are part of the company’s efforts to cut costs and increase cash flow. Disney aims to reduce costs by $5.5 billion in order to navigate through changing market dynamics.
Despite the news of the layoffs, Walt Disney Company’s shares surged on Wall Street. Following the announcement of the second round of layoffs this week, Disney shares rose by 0.99 percent, reaching $100.56. This reaction from investors indicates optimism and confidence in Disney’s cost-cutting measures and ability to adapt to the current business environment.