The latest Disney layoffs are sending another wave of uncertainty through Hollywood, but this round comes with an important twist: Disney’s TV and film units appear largely untouched for now. As CEO Josh D’Amaro continues an aggressive cost-cutting strategy, the company is trimming staff in support functions like technology and human resources while signaling a broader push toward efficiency, automation and long-term restructuring.
According to reports, a couple of hundred employees are being affected in the newest round of Disney layoffs, a smaller figure than the company’s previous 2026 cuts. Even so, the move matters because it shows Disney is still actively reshaping its workforce under D’Amaro’s leadership, even after multiple rounds of reductions earlier this year.
Disney layoffs 2026: who is affected this time?
This latest phase of Disney layoffs is said to be concentrated in shared corporate functions rather than the studio or major creative divisions. That distinction is key for anyone tracking the future of Disney’s content business, especially in the TV and video space.
Teams reportedly impacted include:
- Technology departments
- Human resources
- Other shared administrative functions
By contrast, Disney Entertainment Television is not believed to be part of the current staff reduction. The same is true of the company’s film studio operations, which are also said to be exempt from these cuts.
That does not necessarily mean those divisions are fully insulated. Disney Entertainment Television is still expected to undergo significant restructuring under new leadership, which suggests organizational changes may still come even without immediate layoffs.
Why Disney is still cutting jobs under Josh D’Amaro
The current Disney layoffs fit into a broader company-wide effort to reduce expenses and free up money for future growth. In recent communications to shareholders, Disney leadership has emphasized lowering labor costs and tightening selling, general and administrative spending.
For a company of Disney’s scale, those decisions are tied to several overlapping pressures:
- Higher operating costs across media and entertainment
- Intense competition from major tech and streaming rivals
- The need to invest in profitable growth areas
- Pressure to improve efficiency across large corporate structures
Disney had roughly 231,000 employees at the end of fiscal 2025, with a substantial share in parks, resorts and seasonal roles. Against that backdrop, a few hundred job cuts may seem limited, but they still reflect a disciplined and ongoing corporate reset.
How this compares with earlier Disney job cuts
This is not the first time D’Amaro has used workforce reductions to reshape the company. Since taking over as CEO in March, he has already overseen several rounds of Disney layoffs.
- April 2026: around 1,000 positions were cut
- July 2026: several hundred more jobs were eliminated, largely affecting Pixar and National Geographic
- September 2026: a couple of hundred additional roles are now being reduced, mainly in tech and HR
These measures follow a much larger downsizing drive launched in earlier years. Between 2023 and 2025, Disney cut about 8,000 jobs, helping the company deliver billions in cost savings. The latest reductions suggest that while the largest wave may be over, the restructuring process is still very much active.
What the layoffs mean for Disney’s TV and video business
For readers focused on television and streaming, the most notable aspect of these Disney layoffs is who was not hit. Disney Entertainment Television was reportedly spared, even as industry observers expect meaningful internal changes under new division head Debra OConnell.
That creates a nuanced picture for the TV and video business:
- Core creative and programming functions may be more protected than back-office roles
- Restructuring can still happen without immediate headcount cuts
- Leadership appears to be prioritizing operational streamlining before deeper entertainment changes
In practical terms, Disney seems to be trying to avoid disrupting the content engine while still squeezing efficiency from the wider organization. For a media giant balancing traditional TV, streaming, sports and film, that approach makes strategic sense.
Is artificial intelligence part of the equation?
One reason the latest Disney layoffs are drawing extra attention is the growing link between labor cuts and automation. Internal concerns reportedly intensified after a company legal executive referenced a transformation process that would include automating certain workflows using the latest technologies.
That has fueled anxiety across the entertainment industry, where AI is increasingly seen as both a productivity tool and a potential threat to some jobs. While the current layoffs are not being formally described as AI-driven, the context matters.
Across media companies, AI is influencing decisions around:
- Administrative workflows
- Legal and compliance processes
- Scheduling and reporting systems
- Routine corporate support tasks
For Disney employees and industry watchers alike, the concern is not just about one round of cuts, but about how technology may reshape staffing models over the next several years.
What happens next after the Disney layoffs?
The latest Disney layoffs also come after the company offered voluntary early retirement packages to eligible employees at the director level and above. That move is often seen as a precursor to involuntary reductions, and it suggests Disney is carefully sequencing how it trims headcount.
Going forward, several developments will be worth watching:
- Whether Disney Entertainment Television restructuring leads to later job changes
- How far automation expands across corporate functions
- Whether additional support teams face cuts before year-end
- How Disney balances cost discipline with investment in growth businesses
For now, the company appears to be using a targeted rather than sweeping approach. Still, repeated workforce reductions can affect morale, internal stability and the pace of execution, even when the numbers are smaller than previous rounds.
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Conclusion
The newest Disney layoffs may be smaller than earlier rounds, but they offer a clear window into Disney’s priorities under Josh D’Amaro: tighter cost control, leaner support functions and a growing emphasis on efficiency. For the TV and video industry, the biggest immediate takeaway is that Disney’s core entertainment divisions appear stable for now, even as broader restructuring continues behind the scenes. In other words, the Disney layoffs are not just about job cuts—they are part of a bigger transformation shaping how one of the world’s largest media companies operates next.
