Disney Begins Second Wave Of Layoffs That Will Take Thousands Of Jobs

In February, it was reported at Disney’s earning call that that 7,000 Disney employees were going to be laid off in an effort to save $5.5 billion dollars in cost. Then in March, we got a rough timeline of when three rounds of layoffs would begin, with the first being in late March and the second sometime in April, being described as the “larger” of all three.

“There is a sense of foreboding that the cuts are going to be wide, large-scale and very meaningful,” an industry source said, according to Deadline.

A “longtime film exec” at Disney said, “It sucks, to be honest. Iger coming back got everyone’s hopes up for investment in people as well as creativity. Truth is if you’re not operating a ride at the parks, you could be on the chopping block. Maybe the worst part is still not knowing who is being let go, no matter how much time you put in.”

One Disney employee even reportedly begged a Deadline reporter to find out if their job was safe.

In a memo left to employess, Dana Waldan and Alan Bergman stated:

“We wanted to share that notifications will continue in many areas of the company over the next several days. In addition, restructuring in various businesses will continue for the next couple of months, and we do anticipate there will be further impacts before the summer…

These are hard decisions and not ones we take lightly – but every decision has been made with considerable thought, and we are doing everything we can to make sure this process is conducted with respect and compassion. The senior leadership teams have been working diligently to define our future organization, and our biggest priority has been getting this right, rather than getting it done fast. We recognize that it has been a period of uncertainty and thank you all for your understanding and patience…

While we are confident that these efforts will better position us for the future, we realize this all takes a toll. We want to acknowledge the impact of this moment and simply reiterate our appreciation for all of you and the passion and dedication you’ve brought to the work we do every day”