Disney Targets Thousands of Layoffs as Managers Face 20% Cost Cuts

Disney is preparing to cut several thousand jobs and has told some managers to trim costs by as much as 20%, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC — the third and largest layoff round since Josh D'Amaro became chief executive earlier this year.

Thomas Buckley first reported the plan for Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The 20% savings target could come from job cuts as well as other expenses. CNBC then confirmed the outline from its own sources: several thousand positions are on the line. Neither outlet named a precise headcount.

For context on scale: Disney employed about 231,000 people at the end of its 2025 fiscal year. A cut of "several thousand" would remove roughly 1-2% of that workforce — meaningful, but not a company-wide collapse.

Where will the cuts land?

Disney spans theme parks, TV channels and a film studio, and Bloomberg's sources said some units will be hit harder than others. D'Amaro's plan is not pure downsizing: he aims to reinvest part of the savings in film and TV, technology, parks and cruises.

In plain terms, this is a reshuffle of money, not just a retreat. Roles tied to growth areas — streaming tech, parks, cruise operations — stand a better chance than those in traditional TV and overhead functions.

This is the third round in under a year

The pattern is already established:

• April: Disney planned to cut up to 1,000 jobs, mostly in marketing.
• September: About 300 more cuts, concentrated in human resources and technology, per CNBC.
• Now: Several thousand positions, with some managers carrying a 20% cost-reduction target.

Disney flagged more pain in its 5 August letter to shareholders. "We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth. […] We are mid-stream in this work," D'Amaro and finance chief Hugh Johnston wrote. They named labour and overheads among the options on the table.

Chief people officer Sonia Coleman told employees in August that "involuntary staff reductions" had already begun in some areas and would continue into next year, CNBC reported. Disney also opened an early retirement programme that month.

If you work at Disney — or are interviewing there — the practical read is this: the reduction phase runs into next year, and support functions have absorbed a disproportionate share of cuts so far.

Why Disney, and why now?

The pressure isn't unique to Disney. Netflix is laying off staff, and Skydance has offered buyouts following its merger with Warner Bros Discovery. Bloomberg points to the cause: traditional television revenue is falling while streaming subscriber growth slows.

Disney president Dana Walden put it directly at Bloomberg's Screentime conference in October: "There is a need to constantly evaluate how you're structured and how big is the organization."

Despite the cuts, Disney's 5 August letter kept its forecast of roughly 12% adjusted earnings-per-share growth this fiscal year, excluding an extra week. The company reports fourth-quarter results on 17 November, which should show how the cost programme is tracking against that target.