Amazon's core e-commerce business may be struggling - but the profit-making parts of its business are delivering. Online sales were flat in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2022, the company said on Thursday. But it offset that with better-than-expected sales in its cloud services and advertising units. Profits also jumped in a sign that the firm's cost-cutting drive may be starting to pay off. Since taking the reins last year, Andy Jassy has been pushing the firm to improve its performance, winding down some programmes, halting real estate expansion plans, overhauling its delivery network in the US and announcing thousands of job cuts.
In February this year, Disney announced that it will lay off 7,000 employees as part of a larger reorganisation and savings drive. The entertainment conglomerate has now begun its second wave of layoffs which is said to bring a total job count to 4,000. An internal memo also reveals that the layoff notices will continue over the next several days. The CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, is overseeing a 'restructuring' of the company that includes staff layoffs. Approximately 3.6% of Disney's global workforce is expected to be affected by the layoffs. Disney is planning to restructure its operations into three segments: an entertainment unit, a sports-focused ESPN unit, and a Disney parks, experiences, and other products unit.