Walt Disney plans to cut as many as 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The report cited people familiar with the matter and said that planning for the job cuts began before Josh D'Amaro took on his new role as Disney's chief executive officer in March. The layoffs would affect less than 1% of Disney's global workforce.
The latest round of cuts is expected to fall mainly on marketing and corporate roles, as Disney continues to consolidate its promotional operations across film, television and streaming. The media and entertainment giant employed about 2,31,000 people worldwide as of the end of fiscal year 2025.
WSJ also said Disney's recently appointed chief marketing officer, Asad Ayaz, is moving to consolidate the company's marketing operations and cut costs under an internal initiative known as "Project Imagine." Ayaz assumed leadership of a newly created, company‑wide marketing organisation in January.
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Previous layoffs at Walt Disney
The move follows a string of recent workforce reductions, although the current cuts are far smaller than the sweeping job losses implemented under former CEO Bob Iger. Between 2023 and 2025, Disney eliminated roughly 8,000 positions in several phases, generating $7.5 billion in cost savings which was well above its original targets.
Most recently, in June 2025, the company laid off several hundred employees worldwide across Disney Entertainment, affecting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance teams. That round marked the fourth, and said to be the largest set of layoffs to hit Disney's television operations over a 10‑month period.
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