Bloomberg’s report of a new cost push lands two weeks before Disney’s full-year earnings and caps a year of rolling cuts.

Disney’s year of cuts has a new number, and it is not a headcount. Managers have reportedly been asked to target 20% in annual cost savings, a push that could eliminate thousands of positions, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the plan. Cartoon Brew drew the line that matters: the 20% refers to savings, not a target to remove a fifth of the workforce.

Nobody has put a figure on the jobs. Disney declined to comment to Bloomberg, Cartoon Brew reported, and did not immediately respond to TheWrap. The company employed about 231,000 people at the end of fiscal 2025, which gives “thousands” some scale without making it precise.

What is on the record is the pace. Roughly 1,000 roles went in April. Hundreds more followed in July, about 150 of them at Pixar, and September brought a couple hundred more in tech and human resources. TheWrap counted another 100 to 200 at the theme parks last week.

None of this is happening at a company in distress, which is the uncomfortable part. Disney’s August shareholder letter showed third-quarter revenue up 7% to $25.2 billion and a fiscal 2026 buyback target of at least $9 billion. The same letter gave fair warning, saying Disney was weighing “reductions in labor and SG&A” to free up capacity to invest for growth, and calling itself “mid-stream in this work.”

CEO Josh D’Amaro now has a date with investors. Disney will report fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results before the market opens on Nov. 17, with a webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET. Wall Street will hear the savings number. Employees are waiting on the other one.

Sources

• TheWrap – Disney Eyes Thousands of Layoffs in Push for 20% Cost Cuts – https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/disney-plans-thousands-more-layoffs/
• Cartoon Brew – Disney’s Year Of Cuts Continues With Thousands More Layoffs Expected – https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/disney-layoffs-continue-thousands-of-cuts-268895.html
• The A.V. Club – Disney hit with new round of layoffs after deep cuts in April and July – https://www.avclub.com/disney-layoffs-september-2026
• The Walt Disney Company – Q3 fiscal 2026 shareholder letter – https://s206.q4cdn.com/979796730/files/doc_financials/2026/q3/q3-fy26-earnings.pdf
• The Walt Disney Company – Executives to Discuss Fiscal Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2026 Financial Results via Webcast – https://s206.q4cdn.com/979796730/files/doc_news/The-Walt-Disney-Company-Executives-to-Discuss-Fiscal-Full-Year-and-Fourth-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results-via-Webcast-2026.pdf

Featured photo: Adolfo Félix / Unsplash.