Massive layoffs at ESPN
Disney is preparing to lay off 4,000 employees, and many of those layoffs have been reported to be from its cable sports network ESPN and its other supporting entertainment divisions. And insiders say no one is safe.
According to the New York Post, the list of layoffs should be completed in the coming weeks..
Insiders have leaked information about a first wave of layoffs affecting the jobs of some 4,000 employees. But Disney CEO Bob Iger was talking about 7,000 total layoffs in February, Breitbart News reported.
Robert Iger, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company attends the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro has sent a memo to department heads compiling their lists of employees deemed “superfluous and disposable”.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro speaks during the ESPNW Women + Sports Summit held at Resort at Pelican Hill on October 22, 2019 in Newport Beach, California. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Disney is set to eliminate jobs under CEO Bob Iger’s $5.5 billion budget cut plan as the company faces repeated box office bombs, billions in losses on its streaming service and political setbacks due to his radical leftist policies in Florida.
The layoffs are set despite the company’s reported profit of $23.51 billion, which slightly beat expectations of $23.44 billion.
It was also reported that the company was cutting spending on new programming and marketing.
ESPN staff members were also told that all cost-cutting measures were on the table and that no one’s job was safe, with the most vulnerable being on-air personalities.
Either way, the upcoming layoffs are likely to be much worse than the 2017 round of layoffs that would have been a “bloodbath” when 100 mostly camera-facing employees were laid off.
There have also been larger layoffs since then. In 2015 the company laid off 350 workers and in 2020 the company laid off 300 workers.
Last year, it was reported that ESPN had lost another 10% of its subscribers and had lost 8 million customers since 2020.
Iger said Disney plans to pull ESPN from cable and go “direct-to-consumer” in the future, but no timeline has been set for that switch.
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