Disney has announced that its latest round of layoffs are geared to create a “more technologically-enabled workforce,” as Hollywood continues to contract and dwindle.
Newly-installed CEO Josh D’Amaro (pictured) told workers this week that the 1,000-employee workforce reduction is both a cost-saving and efficiency measure, according to The Wrap.
“Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney,” D’Amaro said in a companywide memo. “Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs. As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company and have begun notifying impacted employees.”
D’Amaro also added that the layoffs will be felt across the company and will not be targeted just to specific departments. Affected divisions will include Hulu, FX, ESPN, ABC News, and Marvel, as well as its corporate offices, finance division, and technology division.
The Disney chief said the firings are not a reflection on the past work done by those laid off but are a reflection of “our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses.” He also promised to help those being “transitioned” out of a job with “with resources, guidance, and direct support.”
News of Disney’s reduction was reported last week, only a day after rival Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that their own cuts are in the offing.
Sony is set to trim hundreds of employees across its TV, film, and corporate offices. Sources said the layoffs are not “cost driven” but are “targeted and strategic” and are an effort to reorganize for the future. The company is looking to maximize growth all across the company, including anime, YouTube, brand extension, game shows, video gaming, and many other areas.
The cost cutting by Sony and Disney is more evidence of the major contraction going on all across the entertainment industry and an example of the pressures driving Hollywood into a state of shock.
Breitbart News recently reported that filmmaking jobs had fallen off by thirty percent over the previous two years. By the end of 2024, there were only 100,000 motion picture jobs in Los Angeles County, compared to 142,000 two years earlier.
This collapse was preceded by an equally stiff drop off of 48 percent in theater attendance.
Also, this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hollywood’s fall is so bad that L.A. may soon resemble the auto industry’s decline in Detroit and that Hollywood’s collapse is a “nightmare scenario playing out” from which it may never recover.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston
