Disney has reportedly announced it will cut 4,000 employees, with many of those layoffs apparently planned for its ESPN cable sports network and its other side entertainment divisions.
These layoffs are anticipated to be concluded within the next four to six weeks, according to the New York Post.
The outlet noted that last month, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger claimed that 7,000 jobs would be nixed across the board. It also reported that ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has instructed various department heads to scrutinize their sections to make them as efficient as possible.
ESPN did not comment on the matter.
FOX 35 Orlando reported that the company is aiming to slash almost 7,000 jobs:
Breitbart News put out a report on the layoffs, commenting, “Chickens coming home to roost at woke, Disney-owned ESPN.”
Chickens coming home to roost at woke, Disney-owned ESPN. https://t.co/e1JFeDccUt
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 20, 2023
Disney’s initiative to cut the jobs are a part of Bob Iger’s $5.5 billion budget cut plan amidst repeated box office flops for the company, billions of lost dollars with its streaming service, and political issues it has faced after it pushed for extremist leftist ideology in Florida.
These company wide cuts come as the company enjoyed profits of $23.51 billion, slightly more than the previously expected $23.44 billion.
Disney is also reportedly pulling back from putting money toward new programming and marketing initiatives.
Breitbart pointed out that this upcoming layoff dwarfs a previously reported round from 2017, when a comparatively much smaller 100 were cut from the company. ESPN also reportedly dropped 200 to 300 workers in 2015, and another 300 in 2020.
Iger has also stated that Disney plans to remove ESPN from cable and go “direct to consumer” sometime in the future, but no timetable has been set for that switchover.
It was revealed last year that ESPN lost an additional 10 percent of its subscribers in fiscal 2021, marking a total of eight million lost customers since 2020.
The New York Post reported that the cuts are expected to be finalized by the end of April or early May.
