Staff cuts at Disney

The Walt Disney Company will reorganise into three divisions and cut 7,000 employees. The company's CEO, Robert Allen Iger, made the announcement on Wednesday during a conference call with investors, Bloomberg reported.

According to the agency, one of the divisions will be responsible for entertainment content film and television. A second unit will handle sports programming, while a third will handle theme parks, merchandise and cruise ships.

The entertainment group will be led by chief lieutenants Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, each of whom will succeed Eiger in less than two years. ESPN chairman James Pitaro will lead the ESPN segment, while Josh D'Amaro, who already heads Disney's parks, experiences and products segment, will remain at the helm.

It is noted that the company will continue to focus more on core brands and franchises and actively curate general entertainment content.

Iger also said he would also push for the company's board of directors to reinstate the shareholder dividend by the end of the year. However, CFO Christine McCarthy said that the initial dividend would probably be a "small fraction; from the level that existed before COVID, with a plan to increase it over time.

Disney's decision to cut jobs came after Zoom CEO Eric Yuan announced in a blog on Tuesday that the company was laying off about 1,300 employees, or about 15 per cent of its workforce, adding that the changes would affect every part of the organisation.

So, Walt Disney wants to save about $5.5 billion. According to Eiger, the 7,000 employees make up about 3 per cent of the company's total workforce.