Disney is considering thousands of job cuts and has asked some managers to identify savings equivalent to 20% of annual spending, with part of the money intended for reinvestment in its entertainment businesses.

The reported proposals combine potential redundancies with cuts to other expenditure. They do not specify how many posts could go, and the 20% savings request applies to some managers rather than representing a company-wide staffing target. Disney employed about 231,000 people worldwide at the end of its 2025 financial year.

Chief executive Josh D’Amaro faces weaker cinema box-office takings, intensifying competition from rival streaming services and a slowdown in overseas visitors to Disney’s theme parks. Growing use of artificial intelligence adds another challenge.

The impact would reportedly vary across Disney’s operations, which include theme parks, television and film production. D’Amaro intends to put some savings into cinema and television content, technology, parks and cruises. The approach would therefore shift spending towards selected activities rather than simply remove costs. Disney has promised double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share for the current financial year.

Further redundancies would extend several years of retrenchment. Disney has already cut billions of dollars in expenditure and eliminated thousands of posts across divisions including ABC, Pixar, ESPN, its film studio and its experiences business.

Several hundred human resources and technology staff lost their jobs last September. About 1,000 employees were dismissed in April, while several hundred further cuts took place during 2025. In 2023, Disney eliminated 7,000 jobs under a $5.5 billion savings programme led by former chief executive Bob Iger.

Separate reported plans in early October involved restructuring the television division and making cuts in the legal and global relations departments.

The pressure extends beyond Disney. Netflix, Sony, Paramount and divisions of Warner Bros have also cut jobs as traditional television revenues decline and streaming subscriber growth slows. Entertainment companies are competing for audiences increasingly drawn to social media, online video and streaming services from technology groups such as Amazon and Apple.

For Disney’s workforce, the central unresolved issue is how much of the new savings would come from jobs rather than other spending. The proposed reinvestment identifies where some money would go, but not which teams would bear the greatest reductions.