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7000-person layoffs are a shocking enough sentiment on their own. But it seems that the Walt Disney Company is taking this task to heart as, in the latest news, the Mouse House is reportedly eliminating an entire division of the company under the initiative. Since the layoffs were first announced during the February 8 earnings call, this news has taken the Disney community and the world by storm. Many were shell-shocked at the idea that layoffs could occur at that scale for any company, with some criticizing the Walt Disney Company for spending inordinate amounts of money on things like personal security despite this announcement.
Disney characters at Cinderella Castle, Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World Resort/Courtesy of Disney
According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney has officially cut its metaverse division: the next-generation storytelling and consumer-experiences unit “developing metaverse strategies.” According to the report,
The division was tasked with finding ways to tell interactive stories in new technological formats using Disney’s extensive library of intellectual property.
At the division’s outset, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek had shared in an internal memo that Disney wanted to “create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories.” To make this happen, Mr. Chapek had hired Mike White, a former Disney consumer-products executive.
The then Walt Disney Company had believed the metaverse was “the next great storytelling frontier.”
As Disney CEO Bob Iger begins his reorganization of the company, remnants of Chapek-era are slowly and surely being relegated to the status of a time past.
Related: Markers of Expensive Chapek-Era Continue to Disappear, Disney World Offers Select Discounts
As reported by the WSJ, the 50-person-large team has been cut, and all of those 50 people except Mr. White have lost their jobs.
While the division was newly formed as of February 2022, Disney’s metaverse strategy was certainly opaque, although it was rumored the technology could have uses in “fantasy sports, theme-park attractions and other consumer experiences.”
Mike White, per this report, hasn’t had the best track record with initiatives for Disney. According to sources, he was also the mind behind the attempt at creating an Amazon Prime-like membership for Disney. It’s one that has been tabled.
Studio Watertower 2015, The Walt Disney Company / Courtesy of Disney
These expense cuts all come from the pressure Disney is facing from its investors to eliminate “non-essential businesses” from its strategy. The 7000-person layoffs come with the promise that Disney will make “$5.5 billion in cuts.” The broader restructuring plan overseen by Disney CEO Bob Iger is supposed to bring the Mouse House back on track in an incredibly economically fraught time.
It’s unclear at this moment how all these decisions will play out for the Walt Disney Company.
