This photo taken on July 21, 2026 shows a view at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, the United States. The Walt Disney Company laid off several hundred employees on Tuesday in its latest round of job cuts, as the entertainment giant continues to streamline its operations with fewer projects, tighter budgets, and a more integrated corporate structure. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)
by Julia Pierrepont III
LOS ANGELES, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Walt Disney Company laid off several hundred employees on Tuesday in its latest round of job cuts, as the entertainment giant continues to streamline its operations with fewer projects, tighter budgets, and a more integrated corporate structure.
A Disney spokesperson confirmed the cuts, saying the company was eliminating several hundred jobs across corporate functions, Disney Entertainment Television, ESPN and Disney's studios. Employees affected by the layoffs began receiving notices Tuesday morning, according to reports from multiple news outlets.
Disney did not immediately disclose exact totals by division or say whether additional job cuts are planned. The company ended fiscal 2025 with about 231,000 employees worldwide, including roughly 172,000 in the United States.
Pixar, the Emeryville, California-based studio behind megahits like "Toy Story," absorbed the largest share of the cuts on the studio side, with less than 10 percent of Pixar's roughly 1,100 employees being laid off, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The reductions came even as Pixar has been on a box office upswing this year. "Toy Story 5," released last month, has earned more than 957 million U.S. dollars worldwide.
The layoffs reflect a broader shift in Disney's studio strategy. Over the last three years, Walt Disney Studios has reduced production volume, emphasized quality and prioritized theatrical releases that can feed the company's streaming, consumer products, parks and other businesses. Several Pixar films, including "Soul," "Luca" and "Turning Red," went directly to Disney+, a subscription video-on-demand streaming service during the pandemic, a move executives later acknowledged may have encouraged some families to wait for Pixar films at home.
National Geographic was the hardest-hit brand within Disney Entertainment Television. Deadline, an online news site, reported that up to 100 jobs were cut across the television group, with most of those reductions at National Geographic's cable network, editorial and operations teams. About a dozen ABC News employees were also affected, along with isolated cuts in Disney Entertainment Television.
At ESPN, Tuesday's layoffs were tied largely to the sports network's integration of NFL Network assets. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told employees in a memo that the company had spent months evaluating "teams, resources and organizational structure" after acquiring NFL assets and had made "some difficult decisions about job impacts."
Several ESPN public figures were reported to be among those affected, including "SportsCenter" anchor and baseball broadcaster Karl Ravech, and former NFL player and analyst Ryan Clark.
The cuts are Disney's third round of layoffs this year and follow a broader restructuring under Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro. In January, Disney consolidated marketing operations. In April, the company eliminated about 1,000 positions across its studios, television networks, ESPN, product and technology groups and corporate departments.
For employees and viewers, this latest round of layoffs has underscored an uncomfortable reality: Even successful brands are not insulated from cost controls. Pixar's recent box office strength, ESPN's expanding NFL footprint and National Geographic's long-established name did not prevent cuts as Disney continued to reassess how many people it needs, what kinds of projects it will make and where it wants to invest.
"These mergers are ruining the industry," a Pixar employee told Xinhua, requesting anonymity. "The studios may be saving millions, but all the hardworking people that built the company and create its world-famous products are getting kicked to the curb so the whole industry and California economy suffers." ■
This photo taken on July 21, 2026 shows a view at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, the United States. The Walt Disney Company laid off several hundred employees on Tuesday in its latest round of job cuts, as the entertainment giant continues to streamline its operations with fewer projects, tighter budgets, and a more integrated corporate structure. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)
