Disney technology employees are pressing management for answers after several rounds of massive layoffs this year, with reports of more layoffs to come.
Several employees told Business Insider they are demoralized and are going the extra mile to look busy — something some of their colleagues weighed in at a company meeting Thursday.
“Do we know when the cost reduction targets are?” a Disney software engineer asked at City Hall Thursday afternoon.
This question was submitted in writing during the Q&A portion of the conference. Business Insider reviewed some screenshots of the questions.
A few days ago, Bloomberg reported that Disney planned to lay off thousands of employees, citing people familiar with the matter. Some managers were allegedly asked to target annual cost savings of 20%. Disney declined to comment to Bloomberg. Disney did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
“Will it [be] Would it be better for employee morale to hear about future employee benefit changes and layoffs first from management, rather than from the media? asked a senior technology employee.
“How do you expect these cost cuts to impact MPA?” a third technologist asked. (MPA refers to Disney’s “Media Platform Alliance,” which includes streaming distribution, infrastructure and metadata teams.)
A fourth employee asked leadership if they knew about the “mouse house’s motivations” for early retirement plans for some of its top brass, information first reported by Deadline in late August. Disney creative director Dana Walden said at a Bloomberg event on Oct. 1 that the company offers an “extremely generous” early retirement plan.
During the town hall meeting, Disney streaming leaders did not respond specifically to questions about whether or when cuts might occur, two streaming employees who attended the meeting said.
A fifth employee asked Disney “what are its plans for these new c.ai people,” referring to the 66 employees the company spent $60 million to hire from Character.AI, an artificial intelligence chatbot startup that filed for bankruptcy in mid-October. Disney’s new technology chief Karandeep Anand was the CEO of Character.AI before joining in early October.
“What will they do?” the technician asked, referring to the Character.AI members moving to Disney.
After the meeting, several Disney employees aired their displeasure on Blind, an anonymous forum that verifies work email addresses before allowing users to view specific company pages.
“Their answers in the Q&A make my blood boil,” said one Blind user.
Another user, who is blind, said City Hall was “forced to remain positive” and leadership “completely ignored all practical changes and morale-destroying issues”.
“Very frustrating”
Four employees said this week ahead of Thursday’s town hall that layoffs and reports of possible layoffs are affecting morale within Disney.
One senior engineer said reports of the coming cuts were “very frustrating”, adding that it was affecting their mood even after a positive annual review.
“I’ve been through enough to know that it doesn’t mean safety,” the person said.
Another software engineer said Disney employees were nervous and eager to prove they were doing their jobs.
“Everyone seems ‘busier,'” the person said, noting that some senior tech employees are “attending meetings they would otherwise skip.”
Disney made three rounds of layoffs in Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro’s first seven months on the job and filed a warning notice in California in late October indicating it planned to lay off 159 park employees.