Disney to begin 7,000 job layoffs this week

U.S. entertainment giant the Walt Disney Company will begin layoff notices this week for more than 7,000 staffers, reported Variety, a top Hollywood trade publication, on Monday, reported Xinhua.

Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger confirmed in a memo to employees Monday morning that the layoffs will come in three waves. After this week's notifications, a "larger" round of notifications will come in April and a final round will hit "before the beginning of summer" to get the company to the 7,000 target, according to the report.

Iger said Disney has made a "difficult decision" to reduce its overall workforce as "part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our business."

Disney announced 7,000 job layoffs from its global workforce on Feb. 8. The job cuts represent around 3.2 percent of its 220,000 employees worldwide.

The company is targeting 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in cost savings, including 3 billion dollars in content savings, according to Disney, the latest on the list of major U.S. companies that have announced mass job cuts in recent months.

According to the Variety report, the mass layoffs reflect the depth of the transformation that Disney and other media companies face amid the difficult transition from analog TV and traditional movies into the on-demand streaming era.