In comes Robert 'Bob' Iger to helm the Walt Disney Co again, and out go 7,000 employees. The return of Bob Iger as Disney's CEO has translated into much of what investors want, corporate restructuring, cost cutting, and most tragically, layoffs.
The layoffs: Disney announced that it is planning to lay off 7,000 employees in the US and internationally.
Here is the full quote/context about layoffs at Disney: pic.twitter.com/BwiUjHl5ui
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) February 8, 2023
My favorite Disney thing is that whenever they have bad news to deliver (layoffs), they always make sure they have some other big reveal to announce at the same exact time (big sequel announcements), hoping everyone will focus on the latter so that's the trending topic.
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) February 9, 2023
On the other hand, Disney has announced a slew of new projects, mostly sequels, including Zootopia 2, Frozen 3, Inside Out 2, and Toy Story 5.
Major changes: Disney is on a $5.5 billion cost-cutting path.
Disney's tryst with streaming: Disney+ has seen a subscriber decline and has been running into losses due to heightened competition.
The return of Bob Iger: Bob Iger was the CEO of Disney for 15 years before he stepped down in 2020. However, after his handpicked successor Bob Chapek led a challenging 2-year at Disney, Iger has returned to helm the company.
The tech/job winter: Layoffs and hiring freezes have become rampant across various companies across the world as the due to a global recession. The IT sector has been the worst affected. Even in India, tech startups have seen massive layoffs across departments. Companies say this is partly happening due to overhiring during the Covid-19 pandemic and businesses preparing themselves for a recession.