Disney’s streaming services lost $1.47 billion last quarter, more than double the unit’s loss from a year prior
Days after Meta and Twitter layoffs, Disney CEO Bob Chapek has also reportedly sent a letter to employees about the company’s plans “to find savings”. He said Disney is limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze.
“While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals (reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024, among others) requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control—most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done,” Chapek said in the letter to the employees.
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The company’s streaming services lost $1.47 billion last quarter, more than double the unit’s loss from a year prior. Chapek has promised streaming will become profitable by the end of 2024. Disney has about 190,000 employees.
He added that he is confident in his ability to reach the targets the company has set, and in this management team to get the company there.
“As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week’s earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with,” the Disney CEO said.
The move by the Disney CEO comes days after tech giants Twitter and Meta announced their plans to lay offs a large number of employees. While Twitter has laid off its 50 per cent or about 3,800 employees, Meta has let go of 13 per cent of its total staff or 11,000 employees.
Moreover, Elon Musk has also reportedly laid off at least 4,400 contractual workers at the company.
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HERE’S DISNEY CEO’S FULL LETTER TO EMPLOYEES
Disney Leaders-
As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week’s earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with.
While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control—most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done.
To be clear, I am confident in our ability to reach the targets we have set, and in this management team to get us there.
To help guide us on this journey, I have established a cost structure taskforce of executive officers: our CFO, Christine McCarthy and General Counsel, Horacio Gutierrez. Along with me, this team will make the critical big picture decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.
We are not starting this work from scratch and have already set several next steps—which I wanted you to hear about directly from me.
First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company’s content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.
Second, 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.
Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency—as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. 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. In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only. In-person work sessions or offsites requiring travel will need advance approval and review from a member of your executive team (i.e., direct report of the segment chairman or corporate executive officer). As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually. Attendance at conferences and other external events will also be restricted and require approvals from a member of your executive team.
Our transformation is designed to ensure we thrive not just today, but well into the future—and you will hear more from our taskforce in the weeks and months ahead.
I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow.
Thank you again for your leadership.
-Bob
