Prior layoffs, an early retirement offer and a Nov. 17 earnings report frame Disney's next workforce move
Walt Disney Co. is preparing to cut several thousand jobs, and some managers have been asked to target up to 20% in annual cost savings, according to media reports.
Bloomberg News first reported the potential Disney layoffs on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg's report didn't say how many jobs are at risk. Disney, based in Burbank, Calif., employed about 231,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025, according to its annual financial report.
Some units are expected to absorb a larger share of the cuts than others. CEO Josh D'Amaro aims to reinvest part of the savings in film and TV programming, technology, theme parks and cruise ships.
The effort comes as D'Amaro navigates the growing use of AI, weaker box office revenue, stiffer streaming competition and a slowdown in international attendance at Disney's theme parks, Reuters reported.
Disney job cuts have built up since April
The latest plan would follow two smaller rounds under D'Amaro, who took over as CEO earlier this year. In April, Disney planned to cut as many as 1,000 employees, mostly in marketing. In September, it moved to cut about 300 more, many of them in human resources and technology.
Before D'Amaro, former CEO Bob Iger cut 7,000 roles in 2023 as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion.
Executives signaled in the company's August earnings report that more reductions were possible.
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers,” D'Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston wrote in an Aug. 5 letter to shareholders. “We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.”
Disney also announced plans in August for an early retirement program for some employees.
“This is one of several actions we're taking to reshape our organization,” Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman wrote in an Aug. 24 letter to employees, “including involuntary staff reductions that have already begun in some areas and will continue into next year.”
Entertainment rivals are trimming payrolls too
Disney isn’t the only entertainment company cutting costs. Netflix said in an Oct. 14 memo to employees that it would lay off roughly 6% of its workforce, with product, technology, legal and HR teams most affected. Skydance offered voluntary buyouts to some employees in an Oct. 26 memo, after completing its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Job cuts extend beyond media
The pressure reaches well past Hollywood. U.S. tech companies announced 123,653 job cuts through May 2026, up 66% from the same period in 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data cited in HRD America's report on tech layoffs reaching a near two-year high in May. Large retailers have also reshaped their corporate ranks, including Walmart's cut of 1,000 corporate jobs, some described as relocation, and Target's plan to trim up to 8% of its corporate roles.
Disney will report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Nov. 17, and executives have said they'll share future updates on their cost-cutting progress.
