Disney Slashes Hundreds of Jobs in Entertainment Amid Cost-Cutting Push

Several hundred Disney employees are reportedly out of a job. The entertainment behemoth purportedly sent layoff notices to workers both in the U.S. and abroad.

The cuts affect mostly the Disney Entertainment unit of the company. Specifically, team members associated with film and television marketing, publicity, casting, and development are losing jobs. Some financial operations staff have also been laid off. No entire teams have been removed — they have reportedly just reduced in size.

According to Deadline, most of the employees involved are located in Los Angeles. The company has not confirmed exactly how many employees might be let go.

The reported layoffs come after the company terminated 200 workers in March. According to the company, dropping TV ratings and revenue forced layoffs at Disney-owned ABC News as well as Freeform and FX networks.  

Shortly after Bob Iger reclaimed the CEO chair in 2022, the conglomerate implemented a plan to cut costs by $7.5 billion, which included eliminating 7,000 jobs. The strategy explicitly targeted the company’s television segment.

Disney by the Numbers

The current cost-cutting strategy is showing signs of financial success. Early last month, Disney reported strong earnings for the second quarter of 2025. The company boasted revenue growth across the board.

Revenue for the entertainment giant reached $23.62 billion for the quarter, up 7% compared to the same period last year. Profits were $3.28 billion, significantly better than the $20 million loss the company reported in Q2 2024.

Disney’s entertainment group, which includes streaming, movies, and traditional TV networks, grew 9%, reaching revenue of $10.68 billion. Despite past struggles with streaming profitability, the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) services, which include Disney+, brought in $6.12 billion in income, an 8% increase year over year.

About 1.4 million more people subscribed to Disney+ in the last quarter, bringing total customers to 126 million worldwide. The figure represents a welcome boon for the company, which had previously anticipated a decline in subscribers.

With more layoffs looming for Disney’s television segment, the shift from traditional TV to online streaming continues to affect job opportunities. Yet, it seems the company is adjusting as it strives to catch up to the king of streaming — Netflix.