Recession impact? Disney plans to freeze hiring, layoff employees
What's the story
Entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company seems to be the latest victim of the impending global recession. According to multiple media reports, Disney CEO Bob Chapek is "planning to freeze hiring and cut some jobs amidst the disappointing quarterly results." This is being done in light of "latest company reviews," the reports added. At present, a whopping 1,90,000 employees (approximately) work for the conglomerate.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Walt Disney has joined the list of numerous global giants who are aggressively cutting costs. For instance, Meta Platforms Inc., announced earlier this week that "it would eliminate 11,000 positions after growth in its virtual reality platforms was slower than [anticipated]." Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO Max have also "cut more than 1,000 positions." NBC Universal, too, has "offered buyouts to employees over 57."
Decision
Only hiring for the 'most critical' positions will continue
Chapek's decision came out through a leaked memo. He said, "We are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze." "Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams," added the Disney honcho.
Quote
It's unclear how many employees will be drastically impacted
Chapek further detailed his plans in the rest of the memo. "As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review." Though he hinted at "staff reductions," Chapek hasn't yet specified the exact number of people who might be impacted.
Reason
The service has been losing massive amounts of money
Reportedly, Walt Disney has registered a disappointing low performance in the last few months. "The shares of the company fell sharply in the last few months, hitting the 52-week low on Wednesday," reported Zee News. "The company has lost $1.5B in the last quarter, more than twice the year-earlier loss and 38% wider than what was earlier predicted," reported The Wall Street Journal.