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Layoffs are seemingly about to hit the most magical company on earth.<\/p>\n
Disney is preparing to eliminate \u201cas many as 1,000 positions in the coming weeks,\u201d according to a report by Joe Flint and Ben Fritz in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a> on Wednesday night. The news comes days after Puck\u2019s John Ourand reported Disney-owned ESPN is preparing to cut around 30 employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n Per the report, Disney employed 231,000 people at the end of the 2025 fiscal year, meaning forthcoming job cuts amount to just a fraction of a percent of the company\u2019s total workforce. Most of those employees work in the so-called \u201cexperiences division,\u201d which includes Disney\u2019s theme parks and cruise lines. However, recent rounds of layoffs have more directly impacted Disney\u2019s entertainment division and ESPN.<\/p>\n It is unclear exactly where Disney will focus the majority of its layoffs. No details were given that would call into question previous reporting that ESPN would see about 30 staffers cut \u201cprimarily in off-camera departments.\u201d The Wall Street Journal<\/em> report mentions that Disney is planning to combine staff at Disney+ and Hulu as it prepares to merge both brands into one app, which could account for some of the 1,000 planned layoffs.<\/p>\n Disney is far from alone among its legacy media peers in making job cuts. Both Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have cut staff in recent years, and many more are expected to be cut once the two companies receive approval for a merger.<\/p>\n Since former CEO Bob Iger retook the top post in 2022, Disney has cut more than 8,000 jobs amid wider reorganizations within the company. Many of those have come at ESPN, which underwent extensive cuts that included longtime on-air personalities like Suzy Kolber, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson in 2023.<\/p>\n As fewer people subscribe to traditional pay TV bundles, legacy media companies are reallocating resources elsewhere in hopes of growing new revenue streams. So far, it has been tough sledding.<\/p>\n \n\t<\/div>\n