Disney is laying off around 300 employees in its latest round of job cuts since CEO Josh D’Amaro took the helm earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The majority of the cuts were to human resources and technology roles, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
In April, Disney planned to eliminate as many as 1,000 roles, as D’Amaro consolidated its enterprise marketing division, CNBC reported at the time. Further cuts were made in July as the company reduced its workforce by several hundred people across corporate functions, including at Pixar, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and Disney’s studios, according to various media reports. The majority of those layoffs occurred within Pixar and National Geographic.
Disney warned about the most recent round of reductions in its August earnings report, saying it was evaluating ways to reduce costs at the company. Around that time, Disney also began offering early-retirement buyout packages to longtime executives.
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and SG&A,” Disney said in that report. “We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on progress.”
Deadline was first to report this most recent round of layoffs.
D’Amaro stepped in as CEO at Disney in March, replacing longtime chief executive Bob Iger, and has prioritized a strategy dubbed “One Disney” that aims to better align the company’s many divisions and integrate compatible businesses.
The goal is a seamless flywheel that brings together Disney’s intellectual property across its film, streaming, theme park, consumer goods, gaming and sports divisions, D’Amaro has said.
Disney, like other legacy media companies, is at an inflection point as streaming and digital entertainment overtake the traditional media landscape. In order to adapt and make new investments, the company has resorted to cutting costs and streamlining its divisions.
