Posted in: Disney, Disney+, Movies, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, pixar, The Walt Disney Company

Disney CEO Bob Iger: Multiple Rounds of Layoffs Begin This Week

The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed that three rounds of staff layoffs are underway - with the first taking place this week.

Less than a week after reports hit that a rough timeline was in place to begin laying off more than 7,000 staff members, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed in a memo this morning that the layoffs will be rolled out at three different time periods – with the first being today. "This week, we begin notifying employees whose positions are impacted by the company's workforce reductions. Leaders will be communicating the news directly to the first group of impacted employees over the next four days," Iger confirmed in the memo obtained by Variety. "A second, larger round of notifications will happen in April with several thousand more staff reductions, and we expect to commence the final round of notifications before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target." And for those who aren't impacted by the layoffs, Iger added that "there will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward," asking the staff for their "continued understanding and collaboration during this time."

A Look Back at Disney CEO Bob Iger's Initial News

Last month, Iger confirmed a number of major changes were on the way or already in play during a less-than-pleasant earnings call. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution was gone, and in its place are Disney Entertainment (Co-chaired by Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, this division will include Disney+ and Film & TV assets), ESPN (Led by Jimmy Pitaro, the division will include ESPN and ESPN+), and Parks, Experiences & Products (Led by Josh D'Amaro, this division will include theme parks & consumer products teams). In addition, the company announced it would cut approximately 7000 jobs as part of the restructuring, representing slightly more than 3% of the company's worldwide workforce. And with those layoffs, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy confirmed that the company was looking for $5.5B in cost savings ($3B in future content savings – non-sports related – and another $2.5B from costs such as marketing, staffing, technology, and other areas (with $1 billion reportedly already underway).

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