Disney to lay off hundreds of film and TV workers
Disney is set to lay off hundreds of its employees in its second round of cuts since 2023, this time affecting workers in its film and TV departments.
The corporation has been forced to streamline its workforce and save money as audience viewing habits continue to diversify, with more and more people moving away from traditional cable television towards streaming platforms.
A spokesperson for Disney told the BBC: “As our industry transforms at a rapid pace, we continue to evaluate ways to efficiently manage our businesses while fuelling the state-of-the-art creativity and innovation that consumers value and expect from Disney.”
Noting that, “We have been surgical in our approach to minimise the number of impacted employees,” the cuts come only two years after over 7,000 employees were dismissed from their jobs in an effort to save $5.1billion.
With over 233,000 employees across the US and internationally, Disney has long been a giant in the entertainment industry, most recently branching out from its children’s brand to take ownership of the likes of Marvel, ESPN, and Hulu.
Despite the expected job losses, from a financial perspective, Disney is still in a relatively strong position. It reported earnings of $23.6million in the first quarter of the year – a 7% rise on the same period in 2024 – with better earnings than predicted over the last month, primarily due to the growth of its streaming platform, Disney+.
However, the year has still not been without its challenges for the corporation. A disastrous press tour and negative reviews significantly stunted its live-action remake of Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler in the lead role.
This has recently been recouped somewhat by the success of its live-action Lilo and Stitch, which has raked in over $610 million in box office sales within its first fortnight of opening.
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