The Walt Disney Co. cut several hundred jobs Tuesday across corporate functions, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and its film studios, according to reporting from The Hollywood Reporter. This is Disney’s third major round of layoffs this year under CEO Josh D’Amaro, following a January marketing consolidation and an April reduction of roughly 1,000 employees.
Layoffs at Disney
Pixar took the largest hit on the studio side, with about 150 positions eliminated at the Emeryville, Calif., studio, TheWrap reported. That outlet said it is expected to be Pixar’s biggest reduction since 2024.
Deadline reported that National Geographic absorbed the deepest reductions within Disney Entertainment Television, where total cuts came in just under 100 roles, including about a dozen ABC News staffers. At ESPN, the reductions are tied to the network’s integration of NFL Network.
This round follows a January consolidation of Disney’s marketing teams under chief brand officer Asad Ayaz and an April reduction of roughly 1,000 employees across marketing, studios, TV networks, ESPN and corporate groups, covered by HR Executive at the time. That was Disney’s first major workforce action under D’Amaro, who took over as CEO in February. A Disney spokesperson told TheWrap the changes reflect the company’s continual evaluation of how it manages resources and reinvests across the business.
Disney’s changing needs
Variety reported that a source familiar with the studio said the changes reflect Pixar’s shifting production needs rather than performance, part of a three-year strategy shift toward fewer, higher-budget theatrical releases.
Disney’s pattern this year echoes what HR Executive reported in April, that new CEOs and workforce reductions have been arriving together across industries. That story noted Paramount Skydance, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Target as other companies where new leadership preceded sizable layoffs within the leader’s first year.
Disney has not disclosed a total headcount figure for this week’s reductions, and D’Amaro is not expected to issue a companywide memo on this round, Deadline reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
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