Disney Consumer Products & Interactive Media Group Suffer Job Losses

On Friday, Disney is reported to have given “pink slips” to some Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media Group staff members, with the total amounting to significantly less than 50. According to Variety’s source, This is due to some restructuring within the company, as the group is merging into the “Parks & Resorts” unit. It isn’t connected to the upcoming purchase of 21st Century Fox.

Last month, Disney reported that that group had posted an 8% decline in revenues to $1 billion and a 10% slide in operating income to $324 million in its fiscal third quarter which ended on June 30th.

Disney declined to comment, but one source says the number of layoffs, while not large, did affect rank-and-file employees up to vp-level executives.

Over the past few years, Disney have been creating less original consumer products and going to larger companies like Hasbro and Funko, to create new products, rather than doing it in-house. This also follows on from previously lay offs within their video game division, which has seen all internal game development moved to external companies, such as Capcom, Sony, Zynga, EA and others, resulting in mobile games closing or being moved to other companies, or titles like Disney Infinity just being cancelled.