Disney axes hundreds of positions across TV and film as lay-offs continue

The Walt Disney Company has axed several hundred roles across its Disney Entertainment division as the media giant continues to streamline its film and TV operation.

Bob Iger

According to US reports, the majority of the cuts are in film and TV marketing, TV publicity, corporate finance and casting and development.

Disney has not cut entire teams but has significantly downsized several in the US.

This latest round of cuts comes as Disney has continued to reduce its headcount. Less than three months ago, the company laid off almost 200 employees across its entertainment networks and ABC News Group.

Two other significant rounds of lay-offs have taken place over the past year. In October, Disney shut down ABC Signature and rolled its operations into 20th Television, resulting in around 30 job losses, and three months before that Disney Entertainment’s television unit cut around 140 positions.

Job losses have become a reality for Disney since Bob Iger returned as CEO in late 2022 and shortly after announced plans to cut 7,000 positions across the company.

Despite the cuts, Disney has turned a corner financially over the past few quarters, as streamer Disney+ starts to turn a profit. In the most recent quarter, direct-to-consumer profit hit US$336m, up from US$47m a year ago, while linear network profit rose 2% to US$769m and content sales/licensing was up at US$153m.

Overall, its entertainment division posted a profit of US$1.26bn, up 61% from US$781m in the same period the year before.