Though there’s been no official announcement from Disney, details are emerging about an upcoming layoff of 1,000 employees, but this sad news did not come out of the blue.
In February 2023, The Walt Disney Company, under the leadership of then-recently reinstated CEO Bob Iger (he returned to the top job in November 2022), announced a company-wide cost-cutting reorganization that would consolidate operations under three divisions: Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks and Experiences. At the time, it was also announced that the reorganization would eliminate 7,000 jobs.
Three years later, and just weeks into his tenure as Disney’s CEO, Josh D’Amaro is expected to oversee the next phase of the company’s cost-cutting plan, which includes 1,000 layoffs, primarily in Disney’s marketing department.
But there was a canary in the coal mine. This new round of layoffs comes only a few months after the January 2026 creation of a new marketing and brand organization headed by Asad Ayaz, Disney’s first-ever Chief Marketing and Brand Officer. The goal is to consolidate marketing teams across the company to present an overarching strategy, but consolidating the company’s marketing strategy now includes reducing its workforce.
Disney is, of course, a business, and the elimination of 7,000 jobs was part of a multi-year, $5.5 billion cost-cutting plan. Still, many theme park fans hoped that Josh D’Amaro’s move from Chairman of Disney Experiences to CEO would signal a leadership style less driven by spreadsheets than that of Bob Iger’s first (and short-lived) successor, Bob Chapek. Instead, these new layoffs suggest that the belt-tightening is far from over. Will D’Amaro’s tenure ultimately balance financial discipline with the creative spirit fans associate with the parks?
Now we’d like to hear from you. Will the loss of 1,000 jobs, mostly from the marketing division, impact Disney’s ability to effectively promote its films, parks, and other offerings? Could the increased workload on remaining employees make Disney a less attractive place to work, potentially driving higher turnover? And does this significant layoff change your perception of Disney’s new CEO and his previous commitments to supporting the company’s workforce?
