2026 has been a year of ongoing business changes across all of The Walt Disney Company. Josh D’Amaro replacing Bob Iger as CEO set off a series of domino personnel shifts that affected Disney’s theme parks and film studios. He has focused in on a shift to make fandom central to the company. D’Amaro’s tenure so far has also included multiple rounds of layoffs, with another set of cuts said to be on the way.
More Disney layoffs are reportedly coming, with some areas aiming to cut costs by up to 20%. We have details on what’s been circulating and the sequence of Disney’s layoffs that led to this point. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including changes reportedly coming to a Disneyland ride and new Disney World Christmas food.
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Disney’s Cost-Cutting Goals in New Report
Layoffs have come swiftly across various arms of Disney’s multimedia conglomerate over the past few months. Another series of cuts is reportedly incoming that could affect thousands of employees.
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Disney is circling “thousands of job cuts” and “asking some managers to target 20% in annual cost savings,” Bloomberg reported on November 2, 2026, citing undisclosed people familiar with the matter. Deadline also later reported the layoffs.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Disney will lay off 20% of its workforce, as some costs could be saved by reducing expenses, Bloomberg noted, but the number could still be high. Disney currently employs 231,000 people worldwide.
D’Amaro and CFO Hugh Johnston wrote in a letter to shareholders in August: “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…We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.”
The layoffs may impact Disney theme parks, Disney Cruise Line, movie studios, television, and technology, but not all equally. The exact breakdown of which areas will be most affected has not been shared.
Josh D’Amaro became The Walt Disney Company CEO in March 2026, replacing Bob Iger. The November 2 news of cost reduction comes as D’Amaro “aims to reinvest a portion of the savings into film and TV programming, technology, and the theme parks and cruise ship businesses,” Bloomberg said.
This would be the fifth round of layoffs since D’Amaro became CEO, following previous cuts in marketing; Nat Geo, Pixar, and ESPN; tech and HR; and Walt Disney Imagineering. Tap those links to read coverage of each of those layoffs in further detail.
D’Amaro becoming CEO led to the appointments of Dana Walden as The Walt Disney Company President and Chief Creative Officer, Thomas Mazloum as Disney Experiences Chairman, and Jill Estorino as Disneyland Resort President. Later, Joe Schott became Walt Disney World Resort President. These changes followed Asad Ayaz being named The Walt Disney Company Chief Brand and Marketing Officer at the top of the year.
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The layoffs arrive as Disney theme parks delivered record earnings during Disney’s most recent quarter and maintained their status as some of the world’s most-visited theme parks in 2025 in a just-revealed attendance report. There are currently more new Disney theme park projects in development and construction than at any other point in the company’s history.
Earlier this year, D’Amaro defined his three key priorities for the Disney company:
- Investing in IP [intellectual property] and creativity that breaks through, builds connections, and endures.
- Using advanced technologies to power our storytelling and increase monetization and returns.
- Reaching more consumers in more seamless, engaging ways around the world, through a more connected Disney experience.
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