The Walt Disney Company plans to cut 7,000 jobs this year.
During a Wednesday call with investors, CEO Bob Iger reiterated plans to make Disney "more efficient"—by laying off about 3.6% of its global workforce.
Disney joins several media and tech firms (Amazon, Dell, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Spotify, Twitter, etc.) in announcing major layoffs—due in large part to a post-pandemic business slump.
The move, Iger said on the call, is "necessary to address the challenges we're facing today," including what he called a "challenging economic environment." Layoffs, the CEO added, will "help achieve" Disney's target of $5.5 billion in cost savings.
Despite a 13% increase in revenue, the company's streaming business lost around $1.5 billion and 2.4 million subscribers last quarter.
"Our priority is the enduring growth and profitability of our streaming business," Iger said during the earnings call. "Our current forecasts indicate Disney+ will hit profitability by the end of fiscal 2024 and achieving that remains our goal."
While the firm in December introduced a $3-per-month/$30-per-year price hike for new and existing Disney+ subscribers, as well as a $7.99 ad-supported tier, it is still too early to gauge what effect those changes may have on membership numbers.
"We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges, and deliver value for our shareholders," Iger said in a statement.