Josh D’Amaro’s First Decision as Disney CEO: 1,000 Employee Layoffs

Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has made his first major personnel decision since taking the helm of the company: up to 1,000 employees are being laid off as part of a restructuring of Disney’s marketing organization. D’Amaro announced the cuts in a memo to employees on Tuesday, April 14 — less than a month after officially becoming CEO on March 18, 2026.

The layoffs are concentrated in Disney’s marketing and brand organization, which was reorganized in January 2026 into a single unified enterprise marketing structure. The consolidation created redundancies across previously separate marketing teams, and these cuts reflect that streamlining.

Quick Summary

• Up to 1,000 Disney employees affected by layoffs in marketing and brand organization
• Announced by CEO Josh D’Amaro in a company-wide memo on April 14, 2026
• Follows the January 2026 creation of a unified enterprise marketing organization
• D’Amaro’s first major personnel decision since becoming CEO on March 18, 2026
• Disney’s first earnings call under D’Amaro is scheduled for May 6, 2026
• Disney generated $94.4 billion in annual revenue in Fiscal Year 2025

Context: Why These Layoffs Are Happening

In January 2026, Disney announced the formation of a unified enterprise marketing and brand organization, designed to consolidate previously separate marketing teams across Disney’s Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences segments into a single coordinated structure. That kind of consolidation almost always produces overlapping roles — and those overlapping roles are what’s being eliminated now.

D’Amaro framed the cuts in his memo as necessary to build a more “agile and technologically-enabled workforce” — standard corporate language, but the underlying logic is straightforward. Merging multiple marketing teams into one means fewer people are needed to do the same work.

These layoffs follow a broader pattern that started under Bob Iger when he returned as CEO in 2022. Iger eliminated approximately 7,000 positions across the company in 2023 as part of aggressive cost-cutting. He also restructured Disney’s corporate organization significantly, consolidating divisions into the current Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences segments. D’Amaro, who served as Chairman of Disney Experiences under Iger, was part of the leadership team that implemented those changes.

D’Amaro’s Full Memo to Employees

D’Amaro shared the following message with Disney employees and cast members on Tuesday:

Dear Fellow Employees & Cast Members,

We have experienced a great deal of change these last few years, both at the company and across our industries. Knowing firsthand how these moments can bring uncertainty, I want to be open about some difficult news that will be communicated this week.

In January, we announced our unified enterprise marketing and brand organization, designed to serve consumers in an even more connected way. Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney. Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs.

As a result, we will be eliminating roles in some parts of the company and have begun notifying impacted employees. I know this is hard. Those that will be leaving us have done meaningful work here and care deeply about this company. These decisions are not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company. Rather, they reflect our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses.

Compassion and respect remain at the heart of our company. As we move forward through this transition, our priority is to support those impacted and help each person navigate what comes next with resources, guidance, and direct support.

Despite these difficult decisions, I remain optimistic about where we’re headed as a company. I’m deeply grateful for all of your contributions and for the dedication, professionalism, and care you bring to your work each day. Even in challenging moments, you continue to demonstrate what makes Disney so special.

Josh

What This Means for Disney Parks and Guests

These layoffs are in Disney’s corporate marketing organization, not in the parks or cast member workforce directly. Guests visiting Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Disney’s other parks should not expect any immediate operational changes as a result of these cuts.

That said, how Disney markets its parks — everything from digital advertising to promotional campaigns, annual pass marketing, and resort communications — will now flow through a smaller, consolidated team. For guests, that likely means more unified messaging across Disney’s brands rather than separate campaigns running in silos.

Disney’s parks business continues to be one of the strongest financial performers in the company. The Experiences segment, which D’Amaro ran before becoming CEO, has consistently driven significant revenue and profits. These cost cuts are a corporate-level move focused on efficiency, not a signal of weakness in the parks business specifically.

D’Amaro’s First Weeks as Disney CEO

D’Amaro took over from Bob Iger on March 18, 2026, at Disney’s Annual Shareholder Meeting — a high-profile transition that marked the end of Iger’s second stint leading the company. Since then, D’Amaro has moved quickly. He visited Disneyland Paris shortly after taking the role, addressed shareholders directly at the meeting, and now with these layoffs has made his first significant internal organizational decision.

His first earnings call as CEO is scheduled for May 6, 2026, when Disney reports fiscal second quarter 2026 results. Analysts will almost certainly ask about the cost savings from this marketing reorganization, the broader efficiency strategy, and whether additional restructuring is planned elsewhere in the company. D’Amaro’s answers on that call will offer a clearer picture of his leadership priorities and where he plans to take Disney over the next several years.

Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro Layoffs: What Disney Fans Need to Know

For Disney fans and park-goers, Josh D’Amaro’s decision to cut up to 1,000 jobs in Disney’s marketing organization is corporate news that operates largely in the background of the guest experience. The parks are running, the attractions are opening, and the investment in new experiences at places like Hollywood Studios and EPCOT continues at pace.

What matters most is how D’Amaro leads Disney over the coming years — the parks investment pipeline, the decisions around pricing, the Passholder programs, and the overall guest experience direction. His background running Disney Experiences gives real cause for optimism on that front. The May 6 earnings call will be the first real window into his vision as CEO. We’ll be watching closely.

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