Disney Cuts 300 More Jobs as Walden Calls Layoffs 'Extremely Painful'

More than 300 Walt Disney Company employees lost their jobs on Tuesday, October 2, 2026, in the entertainment giant's second major round of layoffs in six months, according to US media reports. Most of the affected positions sat in human resources and information technology.

Disney President Dana Walden defended the cuts at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, calling them "extremely painful" but necessary as the company confronts intensifying streaming competition and rapid technological change.

"We've exited colleagues who I've worked with for most of my career. It is in many ways a harsh reality," Walden said. "It is extremely painful."

What do the latest cuts follow?

Tuesday's layoffs came roughly five months after Disney eliminated around 1,000 positions in April, primarily in its marketing division, according to trade media reports. That earlier round followed the appointment of Josh D'Amaro as the company's new chief executive.

Taken together, the two rounds have removed more than 1,300 positions from the company in 2026 alone, with corporate functions — marketing, HR and IT — absorbing the losses rather than creative or production teams.

Why is Disney restructuring now?

Walden framed the cuts as a survival strategy against technology-sector competitors moving into entertainment. "Technology set their sights on our business, and we must survive and thrive and grow. And that's what we're going to do," she said.

She added that structural reviews are now continuous rather than episodic. "There is a need to constantly evaluate how you're structured," Walden said, referring to Disney and its tech-sector rivals.

Disney has undertaken several rounds of cost-cutting in recent years as it fights for position in an increasingly crowded streaming market. The wider entertainment industry is also undergoing rapid technological change, including growing use of artificial intelligence tools in production.

What options did executives have?

Walden confirmed that Disney offered some executives a voluntary retirement programme, letting them decide whether to leave or remain with the company. It remains unclear whether participants in that programme were counted among Tuesday's more than 300 layoffs.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What does this mean for media-sector workers?

For professionals in entertainment, the pattern is unambiguous: corporate overhead roles — HR, IT, marketing — are the first target when legacy media companies restructure around streaming and AI. The cuts hit support functions twice in one year, while leadership positions were at least offered a voluntary exit.

With Walden signalling that structural evaluation will be "constant," further rounds cannot be ruled out as Disney continues to weigh cost discipline against competition from technology platforms.