Disney Layoffs 2026: CEO Josh D'Amaro Cuts Hundreds of Jobs in Tech and Human Resources Divisions

CEO Josh D'Amaro began another round of Disney layoffs on Tuesday, cutting a couple of hundred jobs across the company, mainly in technology and human resources.

According to Deadline, D'Amaro and chief financial officer Hugh Johnston had flagged possible staffing reductions in August.

Tuesday's cuts focus on technology and HR, while Disney's television division and motion picture studio are unaffected, the report said.

Disney Layoffs Follow Earlier Reductions

D'Amaro succeeded Bob Iger as chief executive in March. Just weeks later, Disney removed 1,000 positions in April, making that round larger than the latest reductions reported in its technology and human resources teams.

The company subsequently let go of a couple of hundred staff members from Pixar, National Geographic and ESPN over the summer. Those departures affected different parts of the business from the divisions bearing most of Tuesday's losses.

Disney employed more than 231,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025. Its reported geographical breakdown listed 172,000 employees in the United States and 59,000 internationally.

Those employment totals are a snapshot from the end of fiscal 2025, before D'Amaro's appointment and the April, summer and latest reductions. They do not represent Disney's workforce after Tuesday's reported cuts.

Behind the Disney Layoffs

The executives had outlined the rationale for reducing spending in their 5 August shareholder letter, linking lower costs across The Walt Disney Company to creating additional room for future investment.

'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 labour and SG&A,' D'Amaro and Johnston wrote.

They described the assessment as unfinished. 'We are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.'

D'Amaro also outlined his ambitions during an August speech at the D23 Expo, his first at the event as chief executive. He spoke about continuing to create memories associated with Disney.

'We're not here waiting for the future. We're building it. We're actually building it right now,' he said. He also promised audiences new stories and experiences, saying forthcoming announcements would prompt surprise among people attending the company's event.

'We have new stories for you coming, experiences that will literally take your breath away, announcements that will make you lean forward and ask that person that's sitting next to you, "Did you hear that? Can you believe they're going to do that?"'

An internal memo dated 18 September subsequently signalled staffing changes. Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's chief legal and global affairs officer, warned of 'hard choices' about 'staffing investments' and described his division becoming 'a much smaller organisation'.

The memo, obtained by Deadline, set out a 'transformation process' involving 'automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies'. The wording appeared to refer to artificial intelligence, although the quoted passage did not explicitly identify AI.

Gutierrez's warning related to staffing within his division. D'Amaro and Johnston's letter described a broader review across Disney, with labour costs among several measures considered to free up money for growth.

Disney also sought to reduce its workforce through voluntary departures, offering an early retirement package to director-level employees aged 50 or older.