Walt Disney Co. is moving toward thousands of job cuts, with some managers asked to target 20% in annual cost savings, according to people familiar with the matter. The reductions are expected to touch ABC, Pixar, ESPN, the film studio and the Experiences unit, with theme parks, the TV network and the movie studio bearing a disproportionate share of the pain, those people said.
According to Bloomberg, the savings could come from a mix of job eliminations and other expense reductions, and the push comes from the same people-familiar-with-the-matter sourcing that first flagged the scale of the cuts. As East Bay Times reported, Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro aims to reinvest a portion of whatever is saved back into film and TV programming, technology, theme parks and the company's cruise ship business.
Disney has already promised double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share for the current fiscal year, a target that helps explain the pressure managers are reportedly facing. A representative for Disney declined to comment when asked about the plans, the same report noted.
A Pattern of Cuts Across Every Division
This would not be Disney's first round of belt-tightening. The company has cut billions of dollars worth of costs and eliminated thousands of positions in recent years, with reductions reaching essentially every corner of the business, per the same account. Earlier this fiscal year alone, Disney planned cuts of as many as 1,000 employees in April, predominantly in marketing, followed by about 300 more in September, many of them in human resources and technology divisions, according to CNBC.
Just days before the latest reports surfaced, Disney laid out plans to cut 151 workers in its Experiences segment based in Glendale by the end of December, with eight additional job losses to follow by Feb. 28, 2027, according to the Orange County Register. And on Oct. 1, the Wall Street Journal reported that Disney was planning a restructuring of its TV division along with cuts at its legal and global affairs unit, according to the same finance.yahoo.com account.
Disney had about 231,000 employees worldwide as of the close of fiscal year 2025, which ended in September of that year, CNBC reported. The company is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Nov. 17, a date that could bring more clarity on just how deep the newest round of cuts will run.
Disney's President Signals More Belt-Tightening Ahead
Disney President Dana Walden addressed the broader mindset driving these decisions while speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles, saying organizations need to be continually evaluated and that Disney must “survive, thrive and grow.” Her comments echo a challenge facing every major entertainment company right now: competition for viewers from social media, online video and streaming services backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.
Disney is far from alone in trimming headcount. Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount's and Warner Bros.' Skydance divisions have all cut jobs as revenue from traditional television declines and streaming subscriber growth slows, per finance.yahoo.com. Netflix said in a memo last month that it would lay off roughly 6% of its workforce, while Skydance — the newly combined company behind Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery — is expected to cut staff in pursuit of $6 billion in synergies over three years, according to CNBC.
An Industry Still Shedding Jobs
The scale of this year's turbulence extends well beyond any single studio. More than 17,000 jobs were cut across television, film, broadcast, news and streaming in the first 11 months of 2025 alone, an 18% jump from the same stretch in 2024, according to TheWrap. Since 2018, the industry has lost an average of 14,298 jobs a year, the outlet's analysis found.
Disney's own recent history reflects that broader churn: the company laid off just under 200 employees from ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks in May 2025, with the majority of those cuts landing at ABC News, per TheWrap's reporting. Whether the newly reported cuts reach a similar scale across Disney's other divisions remains to be seen, with no confirmed total or timeline yet attached to the plans.
