Continuing the unit’s restructuring that began last fall, Disney Interactive is to lay off roughly 200 employees.
Disney Interactive is laying off about 200 employees, according to a report by Deadline. The staff reduction continues from the unit’s restructuring that began last fall.
Previously, Disney Interactive laid off 50 employees in September 2012, when the unit employed roughly 2,000 employees.
The latest job cuts, which are expected to come in the next two or three weeks, were not unexpected after Jimmy Pitaro was tapped to run the division on his own in November. Pitaro was co-president of Disney Interactive with John Pleasants before the unit’s Games and Media divisions were merged and Pleasants exited. The pair had been installed in 2010, when Bob Iger brought in Pleasants to run the games business and the social gaming acquisition Playdom alongside Pitaro, who came from Yahoo to head digital media at Disney Online.
Last April, Walt Disney Studios laid off about 150 as part of a broader reorganization affecting other divisions. The restructure comes as a result of an internal review ordered in late 2012 by CEO Bob Iger and CFO Jay Rasulo to pinpoint superfluous positions and increase efficiency.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
