Walt Disney is preparing to shed roughly 1,000 jobs in the first significant cost-cutting exercise under its new chief executive Josh D’Amaro, as the entertainment giant grapples with the shifting economics of Hollywood.
In an email to staff on Tuesday, seen by Reuters, D’Amaro told employees the company would be eliminating roles across several divisions, citing the need for a more nimble operation. “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,” he wrote.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the redundancies will land across the recently reorganised marketing group, the studio and television businesses, sports network ESPN, products and technology, and a handful of corporate functions. Affected staff began receiving notifications earlier this week.
The cull marks D’Amaro’s first major structural intervention since succeeding Bob Iger in the corner office, and signals that the new chief is wasting little time in putting his own stamp on the House of Mouse. It also places Disney firmly alongside its peers: Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Skydance have both taken the axe to headcount in recent months as the legacy Hollywood majors confront the same unforgiving combination of a softening linear television market, sluggish box office receipts and intensifying competition for viewers’ attention and wallets.
For Disney, it is the largest round of cuts since 2023, when the group announced some 7,000 redundancies as part of a sweeping $5.5bn (£4.2bn) cost-saving drive. That earlier exercise was launched under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, who had been agitating for sharper financial discipline and a credible route to profitability for the group’s loss-making streaming arm.
With a global workforce of around 231,000 at the close of its last fiscal year in September, the latest reduction is proportionately modest, affecting well under half of one per cent of total headcount. But the symbolism is hard to miss. By targeting marketing, studio, television and ESPN in a single sweep, D’Amaro is effectively telling Wall Street that no corner of the empire is beyond scrutiny as management hunts for leaner operating structures and faster decision-making.
The job losses were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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Disney to axe 1,000 jobs as new chief D’Amaro moves to streamline empire
