Pixar lays off 175 employees, or 14% of its workforce, as it shifts focus from streaming to feature films
On May 21, 2024 local time, it was revealed that Pixar, an animation production company under the Walt Disney Company (Disney), had laid off 175 employees, equivalent to 14% of its total workforce.
Pixar: Layoffs Hit Story Animation Studio (Exclusive)
Pixar Hits With Layoffs as 175 Staffers Cut
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/pixar-layoffs-175-staffers-cut-1236011766/
Disney's Pixar Animation Studios Eyes Staff Cuts Later This Year
https://deadline.com/2024/05/pixar-animation-studios-staff-reductions-disney-1235728605/
Pixar cuts 14 percent of workforce, shifts focus back to feature films - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/21/24161650/pixar-layoffs-disney-cost-cutting
Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced a company-wide cost-cutting initiative to shift the company's focus from 'mass-producing streaming content' to a focus on quality content creation.
As part of these cost-cutting measures, Disney has notified 175 employees, or about 14% of Pixar's total workforce, that it will lay off these employees , The Hollywood Reporter reported.
The cuts are aimed at employees only, and the company's management will not be affected. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pixar had about 1,300 employees before the cuts.
Disney has its own streaming service, Disney+, and Pixar has produced a lot of content for Disney+. In fact, the most watched movie on Disney+ in the fourth quarter of 2023 was Pixar's ' A Thing .'
However, Disney+ has been suffering from losses for a long time, and in its quarterly earnings report, the company said it was 'returning its focus to quality content production to turn the company profitable.' In addition, the company said it plans to cut staff as part of its cost-cutting efforts.
Pixar plans to cut staff in 2024, content production to decrease - GIGAZINE
It was initially reported that the workforce reductions at Pixar would amount to about 20% of the total workforce. However, in reality, only about 14% of the total workforce will be laid off. Pixar is not the only company within Disney that is being targeted for cost reductions. Disney also implemented workforce reductions in February 2023, firing 7,000 people, equivalent to about 3.6% of the total workforce.
Disney announces 7,000 job cuts, Disney+ and Hulu operating losses exceed 140 billion yen - GIGAZINE
The reason why Pixar did not implement staff reductions in February 2023 is because the content production schedule did not allow for staff reductions at this time. In order to return to a 'quality-first' approach, Pixar will focus on producing feature films rather than streaming content for Disney+. However, this does not include Pixar's first original series, 'Win or Lose,' which is scheduled to be distributed in late 2024.
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in Movie, Posted by logu_ii