Catch up on the essentials
- Disney carried out a fresh round of layoffs on September 29, 2026, eliminating several hundred positions across multiple departments, according to reporting from CNBC and Variety, with TheWrap identifying the affected units as primarily technology and human resources.
- The September 29 cuts concentrated in technology and HR functions, while Disney Entertainment Television and the motion picture studio were mostly left untouched, according to TheWrap.
- The latest reductions are part of a sustained workforce restructuring that D'Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston described as "mid-stream" in the company's August 5 shareholder letter, where executives pledged future updates on cost-cutting progress.
Selected from this article · 2026-09-29
Read on for the full pictureScale and timing of the latest cuts
Disney carried out a fresh round of layoffs on September 29, 2026, eliminating several hundred positions across multiple departments, according to reporting from CNBC and Variety, with TheWrap identifying the affected units as primarily technology and human resources. CNBC placed the number at "around 300 employees," while TheWrap and Variety characterized the cuts as "a few hundred." The layoffs are the third round of staff reductions this year under Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro, who became CEO earlier in 2026, and follow two larger previous rounds in April and July.
Areas affected and those spared
The September 29 cuts concentrated in technology and HR functions, while Disney Entertainment Television and the motion picture studio were mostly left untouched, according to TheWrap. The targeted divisions contrast with earlier 2026 rounds: April's cuts affected publicity, Marvel, and parts of the marketing organization overseen by Chief Marketing and Brand Officer Asad Ayaz, while July's layoffs hit corporate functions, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television, Disney Studios, Pixar, and National Geographic.
Broader cost-reduction effort
The latest reductions are part of a sustained workforce restructuring that D'Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston described as "mid-stream" in the company's August 5 shareholder letter, where executives pledged future updates on cost-cutting progress. In August, Disney offered early retirement packages to veteran employees as part of the same effort, with Chief People Officer Sonia Coleman saying at the time that involuntary staff reductions would continue into next year. Disney employed 231,000 people globally at the end of fiscal 2025, including 172,000 in the United States and 59,000 abroad.
Separate legal-affairs restructuring
The September 29 layoffs are distinct from an unspecified number of cuts signaled by Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer Horacio Gutierrez in a September 18 memo, in which Gutierrez warned that the LGA division would become a "much smaller organization" and undergo a transformation that includes "automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies," including artificial intelligence. The memo did not specify timing or headcount for those cuts.
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