Disney to eliminate 1,000 positions

A Disney logo forms part of a menu for the Disney Plus movie and entertainment streaming service on a computer screen. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Walt Disney’s new chief executive, Josh D’Amaro, announced layoffs in an email to employees on Tuesday, as he looks to streamline the company’s operations.

About 1,000 positions will be eliminated, according to a person familiar with the development.

The cuts will fall on the marketing group, which was reorganized in January, and other parts of the company, including its studio and television business, ESPN, products and technology and certain corporate functions, according to the source.

Disney began notifying employees this week.

“Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs,” D’Amaro wrote in an email seen by Reuters. “As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company.”

Like other Hollywood studios, Disney is adjusting to new economic realities, including a declining television business, shrinking box office and heightened competition. Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O and Paramount Skydance PSKY.O have also undergone layoffs.

The last significant round of layoffs at Disney came in 2023, when the company said it would cut 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion in costs. At the time, Disney was under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to improve its financial performance, and stem losses at its streaming business.

Disney said it had employed approximately 231,000 people as of September, the end of its fiscal year.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Alistair Bell)