Bloomberg reported that next week the Walt Disney Company will begin laying off thousands of staff, including 15% of the employees in the entertainment division.

Globally the company has about 220,000 employees, with roughly 170,000 being in the US.

All major divisions of the $18 billion company are said to be affected by the layoffs. Disney was recently split off into an entertainment division, ESPN’s division, and a parks and resorts division.

Deadline quoted one film executive at the company, who said, “It sucks, to be honest. Iger coming back got everyone’s hopes up for investment in people as well as creativity. Truth is if you’re not operating a ride at the parks, you could be on the chopping block. Maybe the worst part is still not knowing who is being let go, no matter how much time you put in.”

The majority of the US workers at Disney are employed by Disney Parks, with around 100,000 staff under management in 2020, according to the latest available figures. However so far there is no word on how the cuts will be targeted, or how many staff will be cut in any divisions.

In February, the company had stated it would be cutting 7,000 positions, which was projected to save about $5.5 billion annually.

It is expected some employees will receive word of their layoffs by April 24th, according to Bloomberg, citing company insiders.

One of the smallest divisions in the company is ESPN, which first came under Disney ownership in 1995. It has only about 5,000 employees worldwide as of 2023.

Since CEO Bob Iger returned to the helm in November, following his retirement from the position in 2020, Disney has been adapting a new leadership style.

He was brought on board following the company’s share price plummeting, following a report by its streaming service showing it had suffered a $1.5 billion loss in the quarter ending October 1.

In February he announced he would cut $3 billion in spending from content, exclusive of sports, and another $2.5 billion from non-content.