Disney considers cutting thousands of jobs under restructuring plans
Bloomberg reports annual savings targets of 20% for some managers, with certain Disney operations expected to account for a greater share of the cuts.
- Disney is considering eliminating thousands of jobs as part of a new restructuring plan to generate cost savings.
- The savings from the potential cuts are intended to fund investments in technology, theme parks, cruise operations, and film and television programming.
- The restructuring is a response to challenges such as weaker box office performance, a slowdown in international theme park attendance, and increased competition.
- This action follows several previous rounds of layoffs, including the elimination of 7,000 roles in 2023, as part of ongoing efforts to improve profitability.
Chief executive Josh D’Amaro aims to fund investment with some of the savings from a potential Walt Disney restructuring that could eliminate thousands of jobs, Bloomberg News reported.
The money would go towards technology, theme parks and cruise operations, as well as film and television programming.
The report, published on Monday (November 2), cited people familiar with the matter.
Some managers had been asked to target annual cost savings of 20%, while certain operations were expected to account for a greater share of the cuts.
Disney had about 231,000 employees at the end of its 2025 financial year, but the report gave no precise figure for the number of jobs that could be affected.
For D’Amaro, the challenges include weaker box office receipts and a slowdown in international attendance at Disney’s theme parks.
He is also dealing with intensifying competition from streaming rivals and the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
In the wider media and entertainment industry, Netflix and Skydance have also cut staff to lower costs.
Skydance bought larger rival Warner Bros.
Discovery earlier this year.
Disney has pursued repeated rounds of job cuts in recent years to improve profitability.
Its efforts to save US$5.5 billion under former chief executive Bob Iger included the loss of 7,000 roles in 2023, several hundred in 2025 and about 1,000 in April.
A few hundred employees in Disney’s technology and human resources divisions were being laid off, according to a Reuters report in September.
Reuters requested comment from Disney outside regular business hours but did not immediately receive a response.
Source: Reuters
