Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, March 27, 2001
Disney to eliminate 4,000 jobs worldwide
NEW YORK >> The Walt Disney Co. will cut 4,000 full-time jobs, or about 3 percent of its work force, citing "increasingly pressing challenges of the softening economic environment."The media and entertainment giant said today it will try to achieve the cuts through a voluntary program within the next month, but that layoffs will occur if the full reduction is not achieved.
The cuts will come across all operating areas, including the company's corporate staff in Burbank, Calif., the company said.
The company employs 120,000 workers worldwide, with the greatest concentration -- 55,000 -- in Orlando, Fla.
Disney spokesman John Dreyer said the cuts would result in $350 million to $400 million in annual savings. The company will take a one-time charge of less than $250 million, he said.
Disney announced the job cuts after the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where it finished up $1.28 to $29.
Johnson & Johnson to buy Alza for $11.8 billion
NEW YORK >> Health care giant Johnson & Johnson said today it plans to buy drug delivery specialist Alza Corp. for $12.3 billion in stock, a deal analysts say will make it easier for J&J to offer new ways for patients to take its drugs. Alza developed the technology for the best-selling Nicoderm nicotine patches sold by GlaxoSmithKline. It also makes time-released capsules that allow people to take pills less often and systems that use electricity to push drugs through skin.