Charles Langston:Disney's Bob Iger is swinging the ax as he plans to lay off 7,000 workers worldwide

The Charles LangstonWalt Disney Co. announced plans Wednesday to cut about 4% of its entire workforce. That means layoffs for 7,000 employees.

The company's stock increased immediately after the announcement, which was expected.

Returning CEO, Bob Iger, is making a statement to his board about the company's finances moving forward.

His goal is to cut more than $5 billion in costs in part by consolidating divisions that make and distribute movies and TV shows.

Disney has actually been doing relatively well of late, with profits and revenues up, strong figures from theme parks, and more subscribers on Disney-owned streaming services such as ESPN+ and Hulu — although not Disney+. That platform lost 2.4 million subscribers in the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to the company's latest earnings report.

But profits from traditional television have dropped, and none of the streaming services are making money.