Disney's (DIS) next annual meeting is set to take place on April 3, but the company is reportedly already telling managers to propose budget cuts and prepare a list of employees to be laid off in the coming weeks.
It is unknown whether the company will make the layoffs by piecemeal or will make one large staff reduction, but Business Insider has reported that the company will announce at least 4,000 employees will lose their jobs sometime in April.
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Disney Cuts Signal Trouble for the House of Mouse
The payroll cuts were previously announced by CEO Bob Iger during a February earnings call, as Disney is looking to save billions by restructuring the company, cutting back on its content spend (particularly with regards to adult-oriented material, and trimming payroll, and Iger has been publicly mulling whether or not to sell Hulu.
Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, said these moves are expected to save $5.5 billion, partly by trimming $1.5 billion in operation costs and another $3 billion from reductions in non-sports content.
Disney had its worst stock year since 1974, for reasons attributed to increased competition in the streaming market, a lower than expected initial haul for the ultra-expensive “Avatar: The Way of Water,” rising labor costs and losing the worldwide rights to cricket, amongst other issues.
