The Walt Disney Company has laid off nearly 300 workers and offered early retirement packages to older employees, as the entertainment giant continues a restructuring programme.
Last week's job cuts were confirmed by several people close to Disney, the Los Angeles Times reports. They largely affected the company's human resources and technology divisions.
The layoffs are the latest in a series of reorganisations at Disney under CEO Josh D'Amaro, who took over the role in March, succeeding Bob Iger.
In April, D'Amaro announced the elimination of around 1,000 positions at Disney as the company works to "streamline our operations".
The Walt Disney Company has laid off nearly 300 workers as it continues a restructuring programme Disney
Disney employees are expecting further cuts, including a significant restructuring of the TV division early next year, which could result in hundreds of layoffs, the Wall Street Journal reports.
At Bloomberg News' Screentime media conference in Hollywood on Thursday (1 October), Disney's president Dana Walden said: "There is a need to constantly evaluate how you’re structured.
"It is extremely painful. We’ve exited colleagues who I’ve worked with for most of my career and it is, in many ways, a harsh reality."
Walden said Disney's voluntary retirement programme is designed to give "long-tenured executives agency and the opportunity to make their own decisions around whether the timing was right to leave".
Further layoffs expected
“This evolution, it will never stop,” she added. “Technology set their sights on our business, and we must survive, and thrive and grow. And that’s what we’re going to do."
Earlier this year, Disney appointed Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer as part of plans to expand its focus on technology as a key growth driver.
Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and AI platforms, product, and engineering across Disney’s segment technology teams.
