The entertainment giant is shrinking internal functions while preserving resources for future growth.
Burbank
The Walt Disney Company is preparing to eliminate hundreds of jobs across its human resources and technology operations, extending a multiyear effort to reduce costs and reshape corporate functions. The latest reductions will affect employees across several business units, although the film studio and television division are not expected to be included in this round.
The cuts come under chief executive Josh D’Amaro, who took over in March and has continued the financial discipline established during Bob Iger’s previous restructuring. Disney employed approximately 231,000 full time and part time workers worldwide at the end of fiscal 2025, including around 172,000 in the United States.
The new reductions are smaller than previous rounds. In April, Disney eliminated approximately 1,000 positions as it consolidated marketing activities under a unified structure. Another round in July affected several hundred employees across corporate functions and businesses including Pixar, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television, National Geographic and the film studios. In August, the company also offered voluntary early retirement packages to certain senior executives aged 50 or older with at least ten years of service.
The scale of Disney’s transformation becomes clearer when viewed over several years. Between 2023 and 2025, the company cut approximately 8,000 positions as part of a restructuring that generated around $7.5 billion in savings. The objective has increasingly shifted from emergency cost reduction toward reallocating resources to areas management believes can produce stronger long term growth.
Technology is becoming part of that equation. Disney’s legal and global affairs organization has separately warned employees that it expects to become significantly smaller while introducing automation into selected workflows. The company is simultaneously adapting to rapid advances in artificial intelligence, changing consumer behavior, pressure on theatrical revenues and continuing competition across streaming platforms.
D’Amaro and chief financial officer Hugh Johnston have told shareholders that Disney remains focused on reducing expenses in order to create additional capacity for investment. Staffing levels, selling costs and general administrative expenses are all being reviewed as part of that process.
The strategic tension is familiar across large media companies. Disney must continue investing heavily in technology, streaming, intellectual property, theme parks and creative production while reducing the corporate infrastructure supporting those businesses.
The latest layoffs therefore represent more than another personnel adjustment. They reflect a broader transformation in which one of the world’s largest entertainment companies is trying to become leaner while deciding which human and technological capabilities will define its next phase.
Behind every data point, the intention.