Disney is planning to begin its next phase of cost cutting, which will include as many as 1,000 layoffs, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The cost-cutting initiative comes shortly after Josh D’Amaro took the helm as CEO in mid-March.

The layoffs are expected to mostly affect Disney’s marketing department, according to the person, who requested to speak anonymously because the moves had not yet been made public. That department was recently consolidated under Asad Ayaz, who was named chief marketing and brand officer in January.

Ayaz, who reports directly to D’Amaro and Dana Walden, Disney’s president and chief creative officer, oversees marketing for all of Disney’s divisions — entertainment, experiences and sports — in the newly created role. It’s the first time that Disney brought all of its units under one marketing chief.

Disney’s stock was slightly down in afternoon trading on Thursday. The layoffs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The changes to the marketing department structure occurred in January, when Bob Iger was still CEO of the company. Disney announced shortly after that that D’Amaro would take take over the top job — a long-awaited decision for the company.

D’Amaro, who previously was chairman of Disney Experiences, succeeded Iger after a period of uncertainty for the media and theme park giant — which had included a succession race and recent reorganization and turnaround of the business.

Iger reclaimed the Disney CEO role in late 2022, about two years after his initial departure. He was immediately tasked with a turnaround of the business as its stock price had fallen and earnings began to miss expectations.

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