Walt Disney announced a restructuring plan to lay off 7,000 employees and reduce costs approaching 5.5 billion dollars (about 7 trillion won).
According to the New York Times and CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced on the 8th (local time) that he would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 3.6% of the world’s 220,000 employees.
Disney plans to save $2.5 billion (approximately 3.16 trillion won) by reducing labor costs and $3 billion (approximately 3.79 trillion won) in non-sports content costs, for a total cost savings of $5.5 billion. am.
Previously, when Disney recorded a loss of 1.5 billion dollars (about 1.9 trillion won) per quarter in the streaming business in November of last year, former CEO Bob Chaipak was sacked and CEO Iger was entrusted with management again. CEO Iger led Disney for 15 years from 2005 to 2020.
CEO Iger announced that he would reorganize the company by dividing it into three divisions: the entertainment division covering film, television and streaming, the ESPN division focusing on sports, and the theme park division. At the same time, he emphasized, “We will take a more cost-effective approach in operating the company.”
According to Disney, sales from October to December of last year (first quarter of its own fiscal year) were $23.51 billion (approximately KRW 29.7 trillion), exceeding the Wall Street estimate ($23.37 billion), and earnings per share (99 cent) also exceeded market expectations ($1.429 billion).
Subscribers to the streaming service Disney+ declined for the first time last quarter. As of the end of December last year, the number of paid Disney Plus members was 168.1 million, down 1% from the end of September. The operating loss of the streaming platform business was 1.05 billion dollars (approximately 1.33 trillion won).
However, as the streaming loss was confirmed to be lower than the Wall Street estimate ($1.22 billion), Disney stock rose more than 5% in after-hours trading.
Disney also announced plans to resume dividend payments, which had been suspended since 2020, due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). CEO Iger said in a statement that he would ask the company’s board to make a decision on resuming dividend payments by the end of the year.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.