Another wave of layoffs at Disney: Up to 1000 employees affected

In another wave of layoffs, up to 1000 Disney employees are to be dismissed, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The recently merged marketing departments are primarily affected.

According to IGN, Marvel is also planning staff cuts in almost all departments, including film production, comics, finance, and legal. The hardest hit is Marvel's Visual Development Team: artists, illustrators, designers, and other specialists who worked on films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to IGN, Marvel intends to hire these artists only on a project basis in the future. A small, internal team will manage them.

The layoffs are partly a consequence of Marvel producing less overall and becoming more efficient through the integration of Marvel Entertainment into Marvel Studios, reports the entertainment magazine TheWrap.

Disney wants to “streamline” processes

The new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro justified the layoffs in a message to Disney employees by stating that the company wants to “streamline” its processes to foster a “more agile and technologically better-equipped workforce.” D’Amaro did not specify what this means exactly. With the job cuts, he is continuing the trend of restructuring initiated by his predecessor Bob Iger. Since Iger's takeover in 2022, there have been over 8000 layoffs at Disney in total.

According to Aktien.News, the layoffs fall into an economically challenging phase. Disney is struggling with weaker profits and growing competition in streaming, as well as declining box office revenues.

The increased competition in the entertainment industry repeatedly leads companies to make massive job cuts. Disney caused a stir when the company cut around 7000 jobs in 2023. According to the Wall Street Journal, further waves of layoffs are expected in the media industry if Paramount completes the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

(dahe)