Disney to cut 7,000 jobs after reporting 8% rise in revenue

Feb. 8 (UPI) -- After reporting revenue growth in its latest earnings report Wednesday, the Walt Disney Company said later in the day it would cut 7,000 jobs and slash billions in costs as part of a restructuring plan.

Disney's revenue grew 8% from the previous quarter, according to its published earnings report.

The news comes as the entertainment company's Disney+ streaming service lost approximately 2.4 million subscribers.

The job cuts come as part of a larger multi-tiered restructuring plan to reduce costs by $5.5 billion. Of that amount, $3.3 billion will be cut from content, while the remainder will come from "non-content" areas.

The company's direct-to-customer services, including Disney+, operated at a loss of $1.05 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Disney theme parks, however, reported a 21% increase in revenue, with $8.7 billion earned.

The earnings report released earlier in the day covered the first full quarter since CEO Bob Iger returned to Disney in November.

Iger previously had served as CEO between 2005 and 2020 but was replaced by Bob Chapek. Under Chapek's tenure, Disney was accused of bungling public relations issues, including the company's response to Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill. The so-called "Don't Say Gay" proposal has been widely denounced as homophobic.

Spinning off or selling the company's international sports cable channel, ESPN is not currently being considered, Iger confirmed Wednesday.

Last year, some Disney employees organized a walkout to protest what they saw as Chapek's weak response to the bill and to demand that Disney cease donations to politicians who support the legislation.

In Wednesday's report, Iger stressed the company foresees opportunities to better position the itself for the future.

The company plans to align itself in three separate divisions. One will include ESPN and its streaming service. A second will handle Disney's streaming and other media operations, while the third will cover the company's theme parks and other attractions.

"We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business [and] better position us to weather further disruption and global economic challenges," Iger said in a statement.