Disney has cut another few hundred jobs. The layoffs took place on Tuesday, September 29.The company has not put out a public statement in the reports seen so far.
The cuts are mostly in human re units inside different Disney divisions. Reports use slightly different words for the size. Variety, Reuters and Fox Business say a few hundred. Deadline says a couple of hundred. CNBC puts the number at about 300, citing an unnamed source
Who was spared
The film and television side was largely left alone. Disney Entertainment Television and the motion picture studio were mostly spared. Deadline says the TV division is expected to go through a major restructuring. That change will come under its new head, Debra O’Connell. This round does not touch that plan.
This round is smaller than the two big ones earlier this year. The first one cut about 1,000 roles. The second cut several hundred. So the latest cut is the lightest so far in 2026.
D’Amaro took over as CEO in March. He is a company veteran and he succeeded Bob Iger. He runs Disney during a period of big change. Reports name artificial intelligence, falling box office revenue and heavy streaming competition as pressures on the company.
The April cuts
The first layoffs came in April, about a month after D’Amaro started. Around 1,000 roles were cut. Much of it followed his move to create one combined marketing division. Asad Ayaz, the chief marketing and brand officer, leads that division. Whole publicity teams and Marvel units were hit. Some senior aides to Ayaz also lost their jobs. Other cuts came in studios, television, ESPN, and product and technology.
The July cuts
Another round followed in July. Several hundred more jobs went across corporate functions. The areas included Pixar, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and the studios. Most studio cuts were at Pixar. Most TV cuts were at National Geographic. It was the first major round of ESPN layoffs in three years. Reports link it largely to the integration of NFL Network assets, which Disney bought in January.
Early retirement offers
In August, Disney offered early retirement packages to longtime staff. The offer was aimed at senior people. The roles ranged from director up to executive vice president. It covered Disney Entertainment, ESPN and the corporate divisions. The company said the goal was to cut costs and put more money into content, technology and experiences. Deadline reported that the window to accept closed over the weekend. It added that such offers often come before forced job cuts.
A warning from leadership
Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman spoke about what came next. She said involuntary job cuts would continue into next year. The company had signaled more cuts earlier too. On August 5, D’Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston sent a letter to shareholders. It came with results for the June quarter. They said Disney was reviewing labor costs and selling, general and administrative expenses. They described the work as still in progress and promised updates.
The September 18 memo
Talk of layoffs grew after a memo on September 18. Horacio Gutierrez, the chief legal and global affairs officer, wrote it. He told staff the company was in a transformation process. He said it would need hard choices. The memo described a company-wide redesign of the workforce. It did not name AI directly. The Hollywood Reporter says Disney is increasingly using the technology as a tool for restructuring. That is changing how corporate teams are staffed and organised.
How big is disney
Disney had about 231,000 employees at the end of fiscal 2025. That year ended in September 2025. Around 172,000 of them worked in the United States. About 59,000 worked in other countries. A few hundred jobs is a small share of that total.
Earlier job cuts
Disney also cut jobs last year. Several hundred people left from film and TV marketing, TV publicity, and casting and development. Going back further, Disney cut 7,000 jobs in 2023. Iger led the company then. That plan aimed to save $5.5 billion in costs.
The layoffs come even though Disney did well recently. The company posted strong results for its fiscal third quarter in August. Disney says the cuts are part of a plan to reshape how it works. The focus is on cost control and on spending in areas it sees as key.
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