Disney announces hiring freeze, layoffs after $1.5 billion quarterly loss

Walt Disney announced freezes and layoffs as part of a cost-cutting measure as the streaming business suffers losses.

Walt DisneyChief Executive Bob Chapek said in a memo on Friday addressed to executives at the level of senior vice president or above that they would have to make “difficult and uncomfortable decisions”.

in the memorandum, bob chapek said, “I am fully aware that this will be a difficult process for many, including you and your teams. We are about to make difficult and uncomfortable decisions. Although some macroeconomic factors are beyond our control, these goals We’ll have to continue to do our part to manage the things we can control—specifically, our costs,”

The move comes as the company attempts to move the streaming service to profitability as it reported a quarterly loss of $1.5 billion in its streaming business. After the results, the company’s shares fell by more than 13 percent on Wednesday.

Wall Street analysts expressed concern about Disney’s rising streaming costs. Analyst Michael Nathanson observed in a note this week that “the company must prove that their pivot to DTC will be worth the investment value it is currently paying for.”

To deal with the economic downturn, job cuts can be seen in many companies. meta The platforms said this week it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, to rein in costs.

Warner Bros. Discovery has made dramatic cost-cutting efforts, including layoffs, as the recently merged company restructures its content operations.