Disney (DIS.US) plans to lay off thousands of employees! Some management is being asked to cut costs by up to 20% and continue to “slim down” after the new CEO takes office

The Zhitong Finance App learned that, according to people familiar with the matter, Disney (DIS.US) is planning to cut thousands of employees as part of a new round of cost reduction measures. Some managers have been asked to cut costs by up to 20%. This will be another round of massive layoffs Disney has implemented since CEO Josh D'Amaro took office earlier this year.

People familiar with the matter said that Disney is evaluating plans to further reduce operating costs, and some departments are facing cost reduction targets of up to 20%. However, the exact timing of this layoff and the departments involved are still unclear.

This potential layoff plan continues Disney's organizational streamlining and cost control measures that have continued to be promoted since this year. In April of this year, Disney planned to cut up to 1,000 employees, mainly involving the marketing department. Then, in September, the company announced the reduction of about 300 employees, many of whom came from the human resources and technical departments.

If the latest round of layoffs is implemented, it means that Disney will continue to carry out multiple rounds of personnel adjustments in just a few months, further reflecting management's determination to control costs and improve operational efficiency.

In fact, Disney management has previously made it clear that more cost-cutting measures may be taken in the future. In the quarterly earnings report released in August, Disney executives announced to investors that the company is advancing a broader cost optimization plan. D'Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said in an August 5 letter to shareholders: “We remain highly focused on cutting costs across the company to free up more resources to support growth investments, and are evaluating a number of possible measures.”

The two also pointed out that related work is still in progress, and the company will update investors on progress in due course in the future. In addition to layoffs, Disney is also reducing the number of employees through early retirement programs.

In August of this year, Disney introduced an early retirement plan for some employees to further adjust the organizational structure.

Disney's chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman said in a letter to employees on August 24 that the early retirement plan is only one of many measures taken by the company to reshape the organizational structure. “This is just one of many actions we have taken to reshape our organizational structure, including involuntary layoffs that have already started in some business areas and will continue until next year,” she said.

This statement means that Disney had previously planned to continue staff reduction measures until 2027. According to Disney's FY2025 Annual Report, as of the end of the fiscal year in September 2025, the total number of employees in the company was approximately 231,000.

Based on this employee size calculation, cutting thousands of employees will have a certain impact on the company's overall personnel structure. However, since the final scale of the latest layoff plan has yet to be determined, it is still difficult to assess its specific impact.

Notably, Disney isn't the only entertainment giant to push for large-scale cost cuts recently. As competition in the industry intensifies, many major entertainment companies are controlling operating expenses through layoffs and organizational integration.

Netflix (NFLX.US) said in an internal memorandum last month that it plans to cut employees by about 6%. Meanwhile, Skydance (SKYD.US), formed by the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Exploration, is also expected to implement layoffs to drive its goal of achieving $6 billion in cost synergy over the next three years.

A series of layoff plans shows that in a context where content production, streaming competition and business integration continue to bring financial pressure, the entertainment industry is further strengthening cost management to increase profitability and free up investment space for future growth.

For Disney, the new round of layoffs will also be an important window for observing D'Amaro's business strategy after taking office. The company is trying to strike a balance between controlling costs and supporting long-term business growth, and whether personnel adjustments can effectively improve profitability will receive investors' attention.

Disney plans to announce the fourth quarter results for the 2026 fiscal year on November 17. At that time, investors will keep a close eye on the latest developments in the company's cost reduction plans and whether management will disclose more information on the scale of layoffs, savings, and future operating strategies.