Disney has eliminated about 300 jobs in its latest workforce reduction since Josh D’Amaro became chief executive earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The source said most of the affected positions were in human resources and technology. The person spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to discuss the cuts publicly.
The latest layoffs follow several rounds of reductions at the entertainment giant this year as it looks to lower expenses and restructure parts of its business.
In April, Disney planned to cut as many as 1,000 positions as D’Amaro moved to consolidate the company’s enterprise marketing division, according to CNBC.
Another round of job cuts followed in July, with several hundred positions eliminated across corporate operations and divisions such as Pixar, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and Disney’s studios. Media reports said Pixar and National Geographic accounted for most of those layoffs.
Disney had already signalled that further reductions could be coming in its August earnings report, saying it was considering different measures to reduce costs across the company.
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and SG&A,” Disney said in that report. “We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on progress.”
The company also began offering early-retirement packages to some longtime executives around the same period.
Deadline was the first to report the latest layoffs.
D’Amaro became Disney’s CEO in March, succeeding longtime chief executive Bob Iger. Since taking over, he has promoted a strategy known as “One Disney”, aimed at bringing greater alignment among the company’s various divisions and connecting businesses that can work together.
The strategy is designed to create a system in which Disney can use its intellectual property across its film, streaming, theme park, consumer products, gaming and sports businesses.
D’Amaro has described the approach as a seamless flywheel that allows the company’s different operations to support one another.
The restructuring comes as Disney and other traditional media companies navigate a major shift in the entertainment industry, with streaming and digital platforms taking a larger role.
As the company seeks to adapt to those changes while freeing up funds for new investments, Disney has been cutting costs and streamlining its operations.
