Disney Employees Face Yet Another Round of Layoffs

If you ask the average Walt Disney Company customer or frequent Disney Park visitor about their preferences regarding the Walt Disney Company CEO situation, a vast majority of them will say that the return of CEO Bob Iger has been a big step up compared to the work done by the now-defunct Disney CEO Bob Chapek (take a look at the staggering number of signatures on this anti-Chapek petition if you don’t believe us)!

Former Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger is indeed back in the driver’s seat (even though he was not quite as uninvolved as Disney consumers might have thought he was during his ‘retirement’ anyway), and at first, the Disney CEO’s return was indeed met with lots of fanfare and relief.

However, Iger has begun to antagonize his employees even as he receives support from Disney Park Guests; bit by bit, the awareness of that negative work environment has started to spread and affect customers’ opinions of the CEO, too!

We saw one striking example of this when Iger headed to the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks recently. The CEO praised Cast Members for their hard work, but he was quickly attacked for praising his co-workers while still refusing to pay them a living wage.

Now, it looks like Iger has only exacerbated the negative situation once again; the CEO’s plans to disband the Disney Media and Entertainment Division (which had been created by former CEO Bob Chapek) are taking place, and now look like they will be causing more and more layoffs within the Walt Disney Company.

Those layoffs have already started in general, with Disney Media and Entertainment Division head Kareem Daniel being fired by Iger very quickly, but now it looks like the layoffs will be continuing — and yes, the hiring freeze is continuing, too.

Iger and the Walt Disney Company are also apparently endeavoring to combine their TV studios (20th Television, 20th Television Animation, ABC Signature, FX Productions, Searchlight Television, and Walt Disney Television Alternative) into one merged department, which will mean additional layoffs.

It will not surprise many ardent Disney fans to learn that the Walt Disney Company has been floundering financially — but layoffs are never pleasant, and since the struggles of Disney employees like Cast Members (such as poverty and homelessness) are becoming very well-publicized, seeing a lot of Disney employees being laid off right in the midst of their fight for better pay is certainly not a sight that any onlookers will welcome. Iger also further antagonized his co-workers recently with a controversial announcement about changes to the Disney workplace.

Do you still think that CEO Bob Iger is doing a good job as he takes the helm of the company again — or do you find the layoffs and low morale to be more troubling than anything else? Let us know on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!