Disney is cutting roughly 300 more jobs, adding another round of workforce reductions to a year already marked by sweeping changes across the company. The latest Disney layoffs are concentrated primarily in human resources and technology, according to CNBC reporting based on a person familiar with the cuts.
The reductions arrive just months into Josh D’Amaro’s tenure as chief executive and make clear that Disney’s restructuring is not finished. The Walt Disney Company announced in February that D’Amaro would replace Bob Iger effective March 18, 2026, after previously leading Disney Experiences, a segment that generated $36 billion in annual revenue during fiscal 2025.
Disney had already telegraphed that more jobs could disappear. In its August earnings materials, Disney’s investor relations team told shareholders:
“We remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and SG&A. We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on progress.”
That language matters because Disney was not describing a one-time restructuring. The company explicitly said the work was still in progress, suggesting labor reductions were part of a broader effort to reshape its cost structure while freeing money for other priorities.
The newest Disney layoffs follow much larger cuts earlier this year. Reuters reported in April that Disney planned to eliminate as many as 1,000 positions, with marketing expected to absorb much of the impact. The company had recently consolidated its marketing operations under Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Asad Ayaz.
By July, another several hundred jobs were being eliminated. The Los Angeles Times reported that Pixar, National Geographic, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and corporate operations were among the areas affected. Pixar was eliminating less than 10 percent of its staff, with many of the cuts centered on production and operations.
The timing was especially notable because Pixar was not coming off a total creative collapse. Disney’s own August shareholder report said “Toy Story 5” had surpassed $1 billion globally while helping drive streaming engagement, merchandise sales and consumer products revenue. That contrast underscores a bigger reality about the current Disney layoffs: strong performance in one part of the business does not necessarily protect employees when management is trying to redesign the entire organization.
Disney’s strategy under D’Amaro centers heavily on what the company calls a “One Disney” operating model. According to Disney’s 2026 shareholder meeting remarks, D’Amaro said the company wants to connect its businesses more closely so consumers can move across its movies, streaming services, sports, theme parks, games, and other products. The Walt Disney Company’s August earnings report listed that integrated operating model alongside investments in intellectual property and advanced technology as one of three major strategic pillars.
Technology is particularly important to the story. Disney said in that same earnings report that it sees emerging technologies as a major opportunity to improve returns and that it has been investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning across Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, Disney Research Studios, Walt Disney Imagineering and other teams. The company said AI is being used to help design attractions, simulate projects and assist employees with planning and operations.
That makes layoffs affecting technology employees worth watching. Disney has not publicly said that AI directly caused these roughly 300 cuts, and there is no verified basis to claim that automation is replacing the eliminated workers. What is clear from Disney’s own disclosures is that the company is simultaneously reducing labor expenses, reorganizing technology and increasing its focus on AI.
There is also a larger concern surrounding repeated rounds of layoffs, particularly for a company whose value depends heavily on creativity, technology and institutional knowledge.
Research summarized by Harvard Business Review has identified potential hidden costs of layoffs, including lost institutional knowledge, weaker employee engagement, increased turnover, and reduced innovation. Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher has argued that remaining employees can become less willing to take risks after layoffs, an especially significant issue for companies that depend on experimentation and creative development.
A separate Harvard Business Review study examining 146 companies found that engagement, morale, and loyalty can take years rather than months to recover after workforce reductions. Those findings do not prove Disney will experience the same results, but they illustrate the tradeoff companies face when repeated layoffs become part of an ongoing business strategy.
The cuts also stand out because Disney is not describing itself as a company in financial free fall. According to Disney’s fiscal third-quarter results, revenue increased 7 percent from the prior-year quarter to $25.2 billion, while total segment operating income jumped 21 percent to approximately $5.6 billion. Entertainment operating income climbed 64 percent, and Experiences operating income rose 20 percent.
At the same time, Disney reported challenges in parts of the business. Sports operating income declined 17 percent from the prior year quarter, while the company said certain major films fell below its box office expectations and described the advertising environment as softer than anticipated in some areas.
Disney is therefore cutting jobs from a position that is more complicated than simply losing money. The company is trying to increase margins, simplify operations and redirect spending toward areas management believes can deliver stronger future growth.
For employees, however, that corporate strategy has an immediate human cost. The newest Disney layoffs extend a cycle that has moved through marketing, television, animation, sports, corporate operations, human resources and technology in a matter of months. With Disney itself saying its cost reduction program remains in progress, the biggest question may no longer be whether the company can make itself leaner, but how much knowledge, stability and creative capacity it can afford to lose while doing it.
