Layoffs begin at Bristol-based ESPN as Disney makes second round of cuts

The Walt Disney Co. will be laying off several thousand employees this week, a second round of cuts that’s part of a previously announced plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs this year.

The losses are taking place across various business segments, including entertainment, parks, experiences and products. Locally, the biggest impact is likely at ESPN, a Bristol landmark and mega-employer.

CNBC reported Monday that the sports network is chopping fewer than 100 jobs in this round of cuts, primarily off-camera employees. Sports Business Journal reported that those are management jobs, and that President Jimmy Pitaro said two further rounds of layoffs are ahead.

“We will have another wave of notifications that will be completed by the start of the summer for those that are not in front-facing talent roles,” according to a memo from Pitaro to employees that was obtained by Sports Business Journal.

Over the summer ESPN will evaluate on-air talent before ordering a final round of cuts that will be a mix of non-renewed contracts and layoffs, CNBC reported.

Just how severely the cuts will ultimately affect the network or its headquarters remains unclear.

ESPN had about 4,000 employees at its Bristol campus three years ago, and during the first year of the pandemic ordered furloughs as well as pay cuts for executives and on-air talent. It also cut 300 positions and let another 200 vacancies go unfilled.

Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano said Monday afternoon that he had no details from ESPN, and Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Bombard, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, could not be reached.

Mike Soltys, ESPN’s longtime communication vice president and ordinarily the network’s public relations face in Connecticut, was among those laid off.

ESPN has been the Bristol region’s crown jewel since the late 1970s. City assessors say the network has a little under $270 million of land and equipment, and accounts for more than 6 percent of Bristol’s tax base.

Just as importantly, its workers are customers for restaurants, stores and service businesses in the city and a half-dozen surrounding towns. Much of the downtown revitalization initiative that Bristol began in 2004 was aimed at getting young ESPN workers to live downtown, a prospect that some city officials envision as creating a smaller, younger version of West Hartford’s Blue Back Square.

Disney’s cuts are also occurring in various locations, including California and New York. The company previously said that it doesn’t expect the job cuts to impact hourly frontline operations roles at its parks and resorts.

Disney anticipates another round of job cuts starting before the beginning of the summer in order to hit the 7,000 eliminations target.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had announced in February that the company was going to cut about 7,000 jobs as part of an ambitious companywide cost-savings plan and “strategic reorganization.” The job cuts amount to about 3 percent of the entertainment giant’s global workforce.

Disney has said that the job reductions are part of a targeted $5.5 billion cost savings across the Burbank-based company.

Shares of Disney dipped slightly in midday trading on Monday.