Walt Disney Co CEO Bob Chapek made the announcement in a memo to all executives at the senior vice president level or higher on Friday. According to an internal memo obtained by several publications, the company intends to freeze hiring and lay off employees as part of its cost-cutting measures.
The move is being made in order to bring the Disney+ streaming service into profitability in the face of economic uncertainty. The stringent measures were announced just days after Disney reported a $1.5 billion quarterly loss in its streaming business. Following the release of the results, the company’s stock dropped more than 13% on Wednesday.
In the memo, Chapek said a task force has been instituted to review marketing, content and administrative spending across the entire company and recommend cuts. The team is led by finance chief Christine McCarthy and general counsel Horacio Gutierrez.
‘I’m fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams,’ Chapek said in the memo. ‘We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions.’
‘While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control – most notably, our costs,’ Chapek added.
Post Your Comments