Disney weighs thousands of job cuts and asks managers to target 20% savings, Bloomberg reports

Disney is considering cutting thousands of jobs and has asked managers to aim for 20% annual cost savings, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. The report cited people familiar with the matter. Reuters and other outlets carried it.

As of Nov. 3, Disney has not publicly confirmed the scale or timing of any new cuts. Reuters said the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside regular business hours, and WDW News Today said a Disney representative declined to comment.

What Bloomberg reported

According to Reuters' account of the Bloomberg report, the target is a 20% reduction in annual costs for some managers' areas. Business Today describes it as a request to managers across teams to find ways to cut each department's yearly expenses by about 20%. The report did not say how many jobs could go.

Some parts of the business are expected to carry a larger share of the cuts than others. WDW News Today, summarising the Bloomberg report, said the theme parks, the TV networks and the film studio are expected to be hit harder than other units.

The sources said the cuts could range from eliminated roles to expense reductions. They asked not to be named. No Disney statement, headcount or schedule has been published.

Where the savings would go and why now

Chief executive Josh D'Amaro reportedly plans to reinvest part of the savings. Reuters, citing Bloomberg, lists film and TV programming, technology, theme parks and cruise ships as the destinations.

Reuters set the plan against several pressures facing D'Amaro: the growing use of AI, weaker box office revenue, streaming competition and slowing international attendance at the theme parks. Business Today lists similar pressures, including lower attendance at the theme parks, and describes AI as revamping entertainment and disrupting existing business models.

WDW News Today noted that Disney has promised double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share in the current fiscal year.

How the numbers compare with earlier rounds

Disney employed about 231,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025, according to Reuters, WDW News Today and Business Today. WDW News Today puts 172,000 of them in the United States and 59,000 elsewhere. It says that, due to the theme parks business, 16% are part-time and another 8% are seasonal.

The theme parks division is the largest part of the business. WDW News Today gives its fiscal 2025 revenue as $36.2 billion, over 56% of the company's total.

Reuters lists earlier cuts: about 1,000 positions in April 2026, several hundred jobs in 2025 and 7,000 roles in 2023. The 2023 cuts were part of a $5.5 billion savings effort under former CEO Bob Iger. Reuters also reported in September that Disney was laying off a few hundred employees in human resources and technology.

WDW News Today adds that the April cuts, which it puts at over 1,000 employees, came as D'Amaro succeeded Iger as CEO. It says hundreds were cut in July at Pixar, ESPN and National Geographic, and that at least 100 theme park employees, including Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Live Entertainment staff, were laid off in October. A related WDW News Today headline cites a state filing that put the Imagineering layoffs in that round at 159 employees.

What it means for the wider industry

Reuters notes that other media groups are also trimming costs. Netflix and Skydance, which Reuters says acquired Warner Bros Discovery earlier this year, have both cut jobs. A Business Today headline reports that Netflix is cutting 6% of its workforce, its biggest layoffs since 2022.

Business Today also describes a wider pattern of technology and entertainment companies reviewing their workforce needs as costs rise, competition grows and AI adoption spreads. A Business Today headline says technology layoffs in October passed 5,000, led by Amazon, Netflix and eBay.

As of Nov. 3, there is no confirmed timeline or headcount for Disney's cuts.