“Times are tough”: Laid off Disney employee who worked there for five years writes emotional post

“My time at Disney•Hyperion has been defined by firsts. First full-time job after college. First promotion. First acquisition. First auction pre-empt. First starred review (followed by several more starred reviews!). First state award. First national recognition for my books,” wrote Christine Collins who worked as an Acquiring Assistant Editor at Disney Publishing Worldwide in New York for five years.

“And now, the “first” that everyone hopes not to experience: first layoff,” she added.

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Disney laid off around 300 employees in human resources, legal, and finance departments as part of a “cost-saving initiative.”

This comes after the company had let go off around 140 employees in its television division in July.

Times are tough right now for children’s publishing and also for the wider world, the post read.

“Unfortunately, that means that I, along with several talented colleagues, received a surprise same-day meeting on my calendar, was brought into a conference room with HR and a manager several levels above me, and was told that Disney was eliminating my position,” Collins wrote.

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She added that apart from the layoff, her experience there however was pleasant, with her going from “a publishing hopeful to an accomplished editor” and achieving her dream to “edit books for children and teens and to have the joy and privilege of working alongside talented and kind authors and illustrators of color.”

The layoffs at Disney initially began in 2023, ever since Bob Iger came back as CEO around the end of 2022 and pushed for increasing cost cutting measures.

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