Disney Braces for Biggest 2026 Layoffs: Thousands of Jobs at Risk as Managers Told to Cut 20% in Costs

Walt Disney Co. is preparing for its largest round of job cuts this year, with thousands of positions across the entertainment giant potentially on the line. Managers at several divisions have been handed a challenging target: find up to 20% in annual cost savings, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg on November 3, 2026. The savings can come from eliminating roles, trimming other expenses, or a mix of both. Disney has declined to comment on the reports.

This would mark the fourth round of layoffs in 2026 under CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over from longtime chief executive Bob Iger in March 2026. Previous rounds this year have already touched nearly every corner of the company, from marketing and human resources to Pixar, ESPN and National Geographic. The latest plan, if carried out, would affect the largest number of employees so far.

Where the Cuts Could Land Hardest

The impact will not be spread evenly. Some Disney operations—including TV networks, the motion picture studio, and the theme parks division—are expected to carry a heavier share of the reductions, Bloomberg reported. The exact number of jobs to be eliminated has not been confirmed, and the timing of the cuts remains unclear.

Disney employed roughly 231,000 people worldwide at the end of its last fiscal year, giving a sense of the scale involved. The company has already cut billions of dollars in costs and eliminated thousands of positions in recent years, with reductions reaching divisions such as ABC, Pixar, ESPN, the film studio and the Experiences unit.

A Year of Steady Reductions at Disney

The planned cuts follow a series of smaller but steady reductions throughout 2026. The pattern began almost immediately after D’Amaro took the top job.

• April 2026: About 1,000 roles were eliminated, primarily as a result of consolidating Disney’s enterprise marketing division under chief marketing and brand officer Asad Ayaz. D’Amaro addressed the cuts in a memo to staff at the time, writing that “the fast-moving pace of our industry requires us to make difficult decisions” and that the changes were “not a reflection of [employees’] contributions, or of the overall strength of the company”.
• July 2026: Several hundred jobs were cut across corporate functions, with Pixar and National Geographic among the divisions most affected. Cuts also reached ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and Disney’s studios. Pixar’s reductions came despite the $1 billion-plus box office success of “Toy Story 5”.
• September 2026: A few hundred employees, mainly in human resources and technology roles, were let go across corporate and various divisions.
• Late October 2026: Between 100 and 200 employees in the Disney Experiences division, mostly at the Imagineering campus in Glendale, lost their jobs.

The Buyout That Came First

Before the latest round of cuts, Disney offered a Voluntary Early Retirement Offer (VERO) to longtime executives in August 2026. The package was available to U.S.-based employees at the director through executive vice president levels within Disney Entertainment, ESPN and corporate divisions, with a minimum age of 50 and at least 10 years of service.

More eligible managers took the buyout than the company had expected, according to sources cited by Deadline. The voluntary program has now closed, and it was widely seen inside the company as a precursor to involuntary reductions. Sonia Coleman, Disney’s executive vice president and chief people officer, wrote in an August memo that the company was taking “several actions to reshape our organization, including involuntary staff reductions that have already begun in some areas and will continue into next year”.

Leadership Says the Cuts Fund Growth, Not Retreat

D’Amaro has framed the cost-cutting effort as a way to free up money for the parts of the business Disney believes will drive future growth. A portion of the savings is expected to be reinvested into film and TV programming, technology, and the theme parks and cruise ship businesses, according to Bloomberg.

The company has promised double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share for the current fiscal year, and cost reductions help protect that target if revenue from parks or the box office comes under pressure.

Disney’s president and chief creative officer, Dana Walden, addressed the layoffs at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles in October.

“I think, like all of our similarly situated competitors, and certainly all of our competitors in the tech industry, there is a need to constantly evaluate how you’re structured and how big is the organization. Technology set their sights on our business and we must survive and thrive and grow, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Wall Street Is Watching the November 17 Earnings Report

Disney is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter results on November 17, 2026, before markets open. Investors and analysts are expected to press leadership on the size and timing of the layoffs, and on how the savings will be used.

The layoffs also come as Disney works through a broader restructuring of its TV operations. The Wall Street Journal reported on October 1 that the company was planning to consolidate divisions within television and make cuts in its legal and global affairs unit.

Layoffs Are Hitting the Whole Entertainment Industry

Disney is not alone in shrinking its workforce. Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the Paramount and Warner Bros. divisions of Skydance Corp. have also cut jobs as revenue from traditional television declines and streaming subscriber growth slows. Entertainment companies are also adjusting to viewers spending more time on social media, online video and streaming services backed by tech giants such as Amazon and Apple.

For Disney’s tens of thousands of employees, the coming weeks will bring uncertainty as managers work toward the 20% savings targets and the company prepares to face investors on November 17.

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