The Walt Disney Co. will be laying off several thousand employees this week, a second round of cuts that's part of a previously announced plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs this year.
The latest employee releases will take place Monday through Thursday, according to Disney officials. The company will have reached approximately 4,000 job cuts when factoring in both the first and second rounds of layoffs.
The job eliminations are taking place across various business segments, including entertainment, ESPN, parks, experiences and products. The cuts are also occurring in various locations, including Burbank, California, New York and Connecticut. The company previously said that it doesn't expect the job cuts to impact hourly frontline operations roles at its parks and resorts.
Disney anticipates a third round of job cuts starting before the beginning of the summer in order to hit the 7,000 eliminations target.
Disney CEO Bob Iger had announced in February that the company was going to cut about 7,000 jobs as part of an ambitious companywide cost-savings plan and “strategic reorganization.” The job cuts amount to about 3% of the entertainment giant’s global workforce.
Disney has said that the job reductions are part of a targeted $5.5 billion cost savings across the Burbank-based company.
Shares of Disney dipped slightly in midday trading on Monday.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
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A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
