The layoffs were described in a petition filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. According to its latest annual report, Disney employs about 223,000 people. It has already announced plans to cut about 28,000 jobs in September.
The media and entertainment giant has warned that it will continue to be forced to lose its dividends, reduce or fail to pay its retirement and retirement health plans. He said he could reduce investment in television and film production and further increase or eliminate more employees.
“Some of these measures could have a negative impact on our businesses” Disney (DIS) said in the submission.
The pandemic has hit Disney’s park store, which has more than 100,000 employees in the United States. The company was forced to suspend cruise ships and delay major film releases such as “Black Widow,” which is expected to become one of the biggest hit films of the year.
The news that the company is preparing to cut more than 4,000 jobs than it announced in September could attract the anger of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Abigail Disney, who have already condemned the company for the layoffs. Abigail Disney is the grandson of Roy O. Disney, who founded the company in 1923 with his brother, Walt Disney.
Warren accused Disney of making “short-sighted” business decisions and rewarding executives and shareholders through “pepper compensation packages”, dividend payments and share purchases in the years before the crisis – this view of Bob Chapek, Disney CEO’s “bad” called it thoughtful and misleading. “
Abigail Disney publicly supported the Democratic Senator in the debate.
In North America, Asia and Europe, all 12 Disney parks were closed between March and May. While Disney has since reopened amusement parks in Shanghai and Florida, the California flagship park will be closed until at least the end of 2020. Disneyland in Paris was forced to close again late last month when France introduced a second nationwide closure.
One of the highlights was its streaming service, Disney +, which currently has about 74 million subscribers and has become the focus of the business following the transformation of its media and entertainment division. Chapek said in last week’s income statement that the direct consumer business is the “key” to the company’s future.
Disney posted a loss of $ 2.8 billion for the year to Sept. 30, a sharp turnaround from the previous year, when the company made a profit of $ 10.4 billion.
– Frank Pallotta contributed to the article.
