Disney Layoffs: A Few Hundred Workers Cut in Tech, HR

Disney’s belt-tightening under new CEO Josh D’Amaro continues with a new wave of layoffs impacting a few hundred employees. The cuts, which are a smaller overall number than the last two rounds of layoffs earlier this year, are largely in areas such as tech and HR, with Disney Entertainment Television and the motion picture studio mostly spared. The new layoffs come after Disney offered some veteran employees early retirement packages in August in an effort to cut costs and increase investment in content, technology and experiences. At the time, Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman said that involuntary staff reductions would continue into next year. In April, 1,000 employees were cut from the company, affecting several entire divisions of publicity, Marvel and some noted lieutenants of Asad Ayaz, the company’s chief marketing and brand officer. Another round of cuts were made in July, impacting hundreds of employees across divisions including corporate functions, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and Disney Studios, with Pixar and National Geographic hit particularly hard. Tuesday’s round of layoffs are separate from an unspecified number of cuts teased by Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer Horacio Gutierrez in a Sept. 18 memo. At the time, Gutierrez warned that the LGA division would become a “much smaller organization” and undergo a transformation process that includes “automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies,” such as AI. In Disney’s Aug. 5 shareholder letter, D’Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston confirmed that they were “mid-stream” in their efforts to reduce costs across the company and that they would provide future updates on their progress. As of the end of fiscal 2025, Disney had a total of 231,000 employees, including 172,000 in the U.S. and 59,000 elsewhere.