The Walt Disney Co. shares will open about a quarter percent higher Friday at $149.48 on the New York Stock Exchange after the entertainment company said it will lay off 4,000 more workers than initially announced.
Disney will now dismiss 32,000 workers in the first half of its 2021 fiscal year as the world health crisis continues to hurt business at its parks and resorts business.
The job cuts are 4,000 more than previously announced, the company disclosed in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
Along with the downsizing, the media and entertainment company said it was looking at additional measures like cutting spending in film and television content, suspending capital expenditure and placing many workers on temporary leave.
Disney said it employed around 203,000 employees as of Oct. 3 - including 155,000 at its parks. Some 37,000 Disney staff have already been sent on temporary leave starting in October, reports added.
Disney said it may be forced to suspend its dividend payment and cut or forgo contributions to staff medical plans and pensions. Disney has suspended its cruise ship sailings.
All of Disney's 12 parks in North America, Europe and Asia were shut between March and May. Although its Florida Disney World theme park reopened earlier this year with visitor limits, Disneyland has been closed since March.
It isn't known when Disney's California park will reopen, The Wall Street Journal reported. Disneyland Paris was shut again late October when France enforced a second nationwide pandemic lockdown.
Disney suffered a $2.8 billion loss for the year ended Sept. 30 - a reversal from the previous year when it reported a $10.5 billion profit.
Despite the challenges to the company's physical businesses its earnings have been lifted by the Disney+ streaming service which had almost 74 million subscribers as of early last month.
