Walt Disney's incoming chief executive Josh D’Amaro has informed employees that the company will eliminate about 1,000 roles as he seeks to streamline operations. The announcement, delivered in an internal email on Tuesday, outlines cuts that will fall across multiple parts of the business.
Those affected include the marketing organization, which underwent a reorganization in January, along with areas of the studio and television business, ESPN, products and technology and certain corporate functions. The company said the reductions are intended to reshape the workforce to better suit future needs.
"Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs. As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company."
The memo emphasized the need to adapt to evolving industry conditions. Disney is confronting several headwinds named in the company announcement, including a declining television business, a shrinking box office and increasing competition across content and distribution channels.
These latest cuts follow a larger restructuring move in 2023, when Disney reduced its workforce by 7,000 positions as part of a plan to generate $5.5 billion in cost savings. At the end of its fiscal year in September, Disney reported employing approximately 231,000 people globally.
The current actions are described as targeted reductions in roles across a set of functions rather than a broad-based layoff covering all parts of the company. The company framed the move as an effort to create a more technologically capable and agile organization that can meet anticipated market demands.
The announcement provides limited detail on the timing of individual role eliminations or the precise headcount impacts within each affected unit. It also does not specify whether additional restructuring measures are planned beyond the positions cited in the message to employees.
Context note: The company previously pursued significant cost reductions in 2023 and continues to reposition its operations amid shifting economics in television and theatrical markets.