US streaming service provider Hulu reportedly conducted a massive layoff at its Beijing office on Wednesday, affecting about 200 employees.

On multiple social media platforms, including lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu and workplace platform Maimai, users who claimed to be Hulu employees in Beijing said they were affected by the mass layoffs.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Chinese business news outlet 21st Century Business Herald said that 200 people had been laid off, equivalent to 90% of the total workforce in Hulu's Beijing office.

Although the company does not have any streaming-related operations in China, its Beijing team, established in 2007, focuses on R&D and provides technical support to the US office.

Its strong reputation for work culture, compensation, technology and benefits has made it a highly sought-after employer in China's competitive job market, thus attracting the best talent in China, such as those graduating from top universities.

The layoffs at Hulu are likely part of Disney's broader cost-cutting measures. Disney, which gained a controlling stake in Hulu following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, announced on Monday that it will begin laying off staff starting this week.

The US theme park giant's streaming business grew quickly during the pandemic, but as the golden age ended and inflation forced the company to focus on profitability, it had to cut costs along with the rest of the major corporations.

“We have made the difficult decision to reduce our overall workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs as part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our business,” Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, wrote in a memo.

In February this year, when announcing the layoff plan for the first time, the CEO stated that the streaming business led by Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will stop losing money in 2024.