Walt Disney Co on Wednesday announced a sweeping restructuring under recently reinstated CEO Bob Iger, cutting 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion in costs and make its streaming business profitable.The layoffs represent an estimated 3.6% of Disney's global workforce.Shares of Disney rose 4.7% to $117.22 in after-hours trading.
Disney's job cuts are part of a $5.5 billion cost-saving plan, Iger said. The company aims to save $2.5 billion on what it calls "non-content" costs and said it will carve out another $3 billion from content costs, excluding sports. We are going to take a really hard look at the cost for everything that we make, both across television and film," Iger said. Though Disney reported its first decline in Disney Plus subscribers on Wednesday, its profitability improved and investors appeared to cheer the cost-saving initiative and news that Disney will resume a dividend. Shares were up 5.7% at $118.18 in recent after-hours trading.