The cuts to Disney’s global workforce are part of a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting effort aimed at streamlining the company’s operations.
In a note seen by CNN and sent to staff, Iger said the layoffs would come in three waves.
The first round will begin this week and managers will soon begin notifying affected employees.
Iger said a second, larger round of layoffs will take place in April, with several thousand employees being laid off.
Then a third wave of layoffs will take place “before the summer begins” to meet the company’s planned target of 7,000 layoffs.
“The experience of many colleagues and friends who have left Disney is not something we take lightly. In difficult times, we must always do what it takes so that Disney can continue to deliver outstanding entertainment to audiences and guests around the world, now and in the future,” Iger wrote in the note. said.
Disney (DIS) had approximately 220,000 employees as of October 1, of whom approximately 166,000 were employed in the United States. The 7,000 layoffs represent about 3 percent of the global workforce.