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Pixar Animation Studios plans to lay off about 175 employees, or about 14% of the workforce, a company spokesperson for parent company Walt Disney Company (DIS) has told the media. The cuts come as CEO Bob Iger focuses on the quality of its content, a report in CNBC said.
The downsizing was long expected in Pixar after Disney effected layoffs in its several other subsidiaries this year. Production schedules stood in the way of enforcing staff cuts until now.
Following his return as CEO of Disney in late 2022, Iger has been working to reverse the company’s box office woes worsened by pandemic shutdowns and successive flops, the CNBC report says. Disney’s several franchises have lately been flopping with the audiences.
Disney shifted focus to streaming service Disney+ when theaters shut during the pandemic. With people moving to online entertainment, Disney’s return to theater releases post pandemic did not work well.
With Iger back, Pixar will refocus on theatrical releases and move away from short-form series for Disney+, the report said.