A third round of expected layoffs by the Walt Disney Company has begun and employees impacted by the cuts are being notified this week, according to published reports.
The House of Mouse recently concluded its first two rounds of job cuts as the company seeks to significantly slash costs under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bob Iger.
The new wave of layoffs, which began on Monday, will see more than 2,500 workers lose their jobs at the company.
Television was the hardest hit previously but it is only experiencing a small number of job cuts this time.
It comes as media companies are dealing with the impact of the ongoing writers strike which is forcing film and television developments and production to pause.
Disney has roughly 220,000 employees globally, around 170,000 of which are in the US.
It’s other two cooperate divisions ESPN and Parks, Experiences and Products will also see staffing numbers cut.
But no frontline operational workers at its theme parks are expected to lose their jobs.
The company revealed plans for layoffs and other austerity measures in February in a bid to achieve $5.5 billion in cost savings during a first-quarter earnings call.
Management was finalizing details of the new structure in the following weeks and CEO Igor told staff in March in a memo there would be three rounds of layoffs as the company worked to reduce its staff by 7,000.
‘This week, we begin notifying employees whose positions are impacted by the company’s workforce reductions,’ he wrote.
Leaders will be communicating the news directly to the first group of impacted employees over the next four days.
