Australian staff employed by the Walt Disney Company have received letters telling them of plans to cut 4,000 jobs from a 120,000-strong global workforce, in the face of a weakening economy.
Staff in Australia received letters today, warning of the company's plan to shed jobs.
"Most staff received letters today", Judy Robertson, Communications Manager, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, confirmed to ZDNet.
Buena Vista is one of eight divisions of the company operating in Australia.
The others include Disney stores, Beuna Vista International, Disney Special Events, Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney International.
Robertson however, could not say how many staff in each division received letters today.
Disney, owner of the Disney movie studio, ABC and ESPN television networks and theme parks around the world, expects to take one-time charges totaling less than US$250 million spread across its fiscal third and fourth quarters to account for the job cuts, a spokesman said.
He said Disney expects to save US$350 million to US$400 million annually from the job cuts. Disney hopes to trim its workforce first through voluntary reductions, but would move to mandatory layoffs, if needed.
"In a slowing economy, we thought it was appropriate to do a prudent trimming of the workforce," said spokesman John Dreyer.
