Disney and Zoom announce layoffs

It does not look like the trend of job cuts has plateaued just yet. This week, pandemic-era darling Zoom and Disney announced that they were axing a combined total of 8,300 staff, with Zoom cutting off 1,300 and Disney 7,000.

Zoom’s cuts makeup 15% of its total headcount with CEO Eric Yuan citing the company’s rapid hiring during the pandemic as well as “the uncertainty of the global economy” as factors in the company’s decision to make cuts.

Yuan also stated that he would reduce his salary by 98% for the coming fiscal year and forgo his bonus with Zoom’s executive leadership team also having their base salaries reduced by 20 percent for the 2023 fiscal year.

According to the New York Times, from July 2019 through October 2022, Zoom’s work force grew by more than 275%, to 8,422 employees, as the telecommunication company scrambled to match the demand for its services at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Zoom’s market capitalisation has shrunk from its pandemic peak of $150 billion to $24 billion today.

In more sombre layoff news, Disney also announced that it is cutting off 4% of staff, an equivalent of 7,000 people. According to multiple reports, CEO Bob Iger plans to cut more than $5 billion in costs in part by consolidating divisions that make and distribute movies and TV shows as demand for content surged post the peak of the pandemic.

As with other layoffs, shares of both companies surged following the announcements, signaling the market’s support of job cuts as cost cutting mechanisms.