- Disney is starting its third round of layoffs this year, with more than 2,500 jobs set to be cut.
- It's the final batch of layoffs expected to collectively remove more than 7,000 roles.
Disney is starting its third round of layoffs this year, with more than 2,500 workers set to lose their jobs, sources told CNN and Deadline.
Disney is cutting around 7,000 jobs in total this year as part of cost-cutting measures that were initiated by CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the helm after previous boss Bob Chapek was ousted in November.
Iger previously said that Disney would implement the layoffs in three batches, with the final one starting "before the beginning of the summer."
Deadline reported that this round of layoffs wasn't targeting any particular division of the company. Disney CFO Christine McCarthy previously said in a recent company earnings call that reductions in marketing and headcount at Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution – the content and distribution unit Iger has dismantled – would make up "the bulk of the efficiencies" the company was introducing this year.
Disney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about the reported layoffs, made outside of normal working hours.
Reports of the third round of layoffs starting come shortly after Disney scrapped its plans to build a nearly $900 million corporate campus in Florida because of a combination of Iger's return, the company's cost-cutting measures, and Disney's legal battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, The Wall Street Journal reported. Disney had planned to move more than 2,000 employees – mostly from its headquarters in California – to the new campus. Some had already relocated before the plans were dropped, per The Journal.
Iger, who had served as CEO between 2005 and 2020, was reappointed to the role for a two-year term in November. Since returning, he's been embroiled in a public spat with DeSantis which saw the governor attempt to remove Disney World Florida's self-governing status.