Disney Opts for Yet Another Round of Layoffs

Honey, Disney shrunk the workforce. Again. And the latest round of headcount reductions may just be the largest, too. 

The House of Mouse is now targeting thousands of job cuts as many managers across the entire entertainment empire have been tasked with achieving 20% in annual cost savings, according to a Bloomberg report. It’s the latest, and possibly most bruising, spate of layoffs in a long cost-cutting campaign that spanned Bob Iger’s entire second stint as CEO.

It’s a Much Smaller World, After All

Indeed, Iger’s return to the throne commenced with job cuts totaling 7,000 through early 2023. Smaller cuts continued through 2024, including a 14% headcount reduction at animation studio Pixar and a 13% cut at National Geographic amid broader cuts across the company’s TV unit. By March 2025, Disney cut 6% of its workforce, or some 200 roles, across ABC News and other TV units, and shuttered the news-and-data-analytics website FiveThirtyEight (whose election guru alumni, for what it’s worth, have remained polling analysistrendsetters this midterm cycle). Just a couple months later, several hundred more employees across film, TV and corporate finance were let go.

The Iger era ended and the Josh D’Amaro era began earlier this year, but Disney has been putting out nearly as many pink slips as Marvel superhero sequels:

• D’Amaro spearheaded a round of about 1,000 layoffs almost immediately after taking the helm in mid-March earlier this year, with rolling layoffs continuing throughout the summer including roles across Marvel, ESPN, Pixar and National Geographic.
• In August, the company offered early retirement buyouts to many veteran executives, followed by several hundred reductions mostly across HR and IT departments in September, marking the third round of layoffs in D’Amaro’s first six months.

Misery Loves Media Companies: Behind the seemingly endless bloodbath is a promise to deliver double-digit earnings per share growth in the current fiscal year. And it comes as D’Amaro promises to institute a “culture of efficiency.” Bloomberg reported that theme parks, TV channels and the movie studio will be affected disproportionately by the latest cost-cutting measures. Last month, TheWall Street Journalreported that the company was in the early stages of a massive restructuring of its TV business to reorient it around the growing streaming business instead of around the sinking linear TV and cable business. Laid-off Disney employees are hardly alone in their anguish. Both Netflix and the new-look Skydance have announced layoff plans in recent months.