Disney VP Seemingly Confirms New Round Of Layoffs Imminent

Layoffs have been a near-constant threat at The Walt Disney Company in recent years, and that doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon. There have been reports that more layoffs could hit the company before September is over, and a memo from Disney Vice President Horacio Gutierrez seems to confirm the report.

What's Happening:

• A memo obtained by Deadline, which was sent to the Legal and Global Affairs team by Disney Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez, tells staff that Disney will be “automating certain workflows," and that he is personally "taking a dispassionate look at every aspect of how we do our work, so we can do it in a more efficient and cost-effective manner."
• Gutierrez goes on to say, "Obviously, this will require hard choices about where and how we deploy our resources and investments, including our staffing investments and how we work will look different in the months and years ahead. LGA will be a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process."
• While the memo is meant specifically for the LGA department, according to Deadline, the memo, which was sent on September 18, is being passed around Disney, causing everybody to be concerned about the future.
• Various departments at Disney have seen layoffs this year alone. Pixar was significantly hit in a recent round. A massive round of layoffs took place in April. It's unclear how large these impending layoffs will be, which areas of Disney will be impacted, or whether we're near the end of this process.

More Disney Business News:

• While layoffs continue at Disney, the company is still hiring. The first Chief Technology Officer at Disney was recently brought on board.
• A new chairman of Disney's DTC division has also been named.
• Disney has also offered some executives early retirement as part of ongoing cost-cutting.