Disney is initiating the second and largest round of its planned layoffs Monday and expects to reach 4,000 of its projected 7,000 staff cuts by Thursday.A staff memo from Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden delivered the news, indicating that affected workers would be notified from now through Thursday. A final round will take effect before the start of summer. “These are hard decisions and not ones we take lightly – but every decision has been made with considerable thought, and we are doing everything we can to make sure this process is conducted with respect and compassion,” the execs wrote.This week’s staff reductions have been anticipated for weeks, with workers referring to it as “the big one” or, more ominously, a “bloodbath,” as Deadline has reported. The initial wave began on March 27.The company said last February it expects to realize $5.5 billion in cost savings as a result of the layoffs and other austerity measures. ESPN and Parks, Experiences and Products, the other two corporate divisions, will see staff cuts along with Entertainment. No frontline operational workers at the company’s theme parks are expected to lose their jobs, however.CEO Bob Iger began outlining plans for downsizing soon after returning to the top job last November. One area targeted for cuts has been the centralized distribution organization created by his predecessor, Bob Chapek. Kareem Daniel, who led Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, was let go from the company on Iger’s first official day back at the controls following Chapek’s ouster.Like its peers in the media business, Disney is contending with secular decline in its lucrative pay-TV business at the same time it is trying to continue funding its streaming efforts despite their still-murky economics. In the most recent quarter, the company booked a $1 billion loss in streaming, despite record-setting revenue of $5.3 billion. The loss was an improvement over the previous quarter, which saw a $1.5 billion red figure. After several quarters of growth, flagship service Disney+ also moved backwards for the first time, shedding 2.4 million subscribers to end the quarter at 161.8 million.
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