Disney cuts several hundred jobs, with Pixar and Nat Geo hit hard
Deadline reports Disney is eliminating several hundred roles, including staff at Pixar, National Geographic, ABC News and other units.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
Disney is shedding several hundred jobs, with Pixar and National Geographic among the areas taking the sharpest hit, according to Deadline.
The cuts landed Tuesday, the outlet reported, as staffers across Disney Entertainment Television and Studios and other parts of the company were told their roles were being eliminated. Deadline attributed the details to a person familiar with the situation.
The move comes alongside separate layoffs at ESPN, which Deadline reported were tied to the sports network’s deal with the NFL.
Across Disney Entertainment Group, the reductions total just under 100 jobs, according to Deadline. National Geographic accounted for most of those cuts, with affected roles at the cable channel as well as in editorial and operations.
About a dozen ABC News employees were also affected, Deadline reported. Other Disney Entertainment Television divisions saw smaller, scattered reductions.
Pixar was also named by Deadline as one of the divisions most affected by the broader companywide cuts, though the outlet did not report a specific number of Pixar roles eliminated.
No new memo expected
Deadline reported that Josh D’Amaro, who became Disney CEO earlier this year after Bob Iger, is not expected to send a fresh companywide message about Tuesday’s layoffs. The outlet said D’Amaro had addressed an earlier round of cuts in an April staff memo.
In that memo, quoted by Deadline, D’Amaro said Disney had spent recent months looking for ways to streamline operations in parts of the company while still delivering the creativity and innovation audiences expect from Disney.
He also wrote that the pace of the company’s industries required Disney to keep assessing how to build a more agile and technology-enabled workforce for future needs, according to Deadline.
The latest layoffs extend a year of continued cost pressure and restructuring across major media companies, though Deadline’s report focused specifically on the Disney divisions notified Tuesday and did not provide a broader financial target for the cuts.
Disney had not issued an additional public statement in Deadline’s report beyond the previously cited April memo. The report did not include comments from affected employees.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.