The Walt Disney Company has launched another round of restructuring, cutting hundreds of jobs across its entertainment divisions. Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California, was hit hardest, alongside corporate, television and sports teams. The cuts have sent shockwaves through the studio despite its recent summer box-office success.
The Walt Disney Company is eliminating hundreds of roles across its business as it pushes ahead with broad operational cuts that gathered pace earlier this year.
Pixar Hit Hardest in Disney's Latest Cuts
Several divisions face job losses, including corporate teams, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television and the film studios, with Pixar enduring the deepest cuts on the film side and Nat Geo hit hardest within television, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
╭ · 𝖭𝖾𝗐 "Toy Story 5" 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝗇 𝖳𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋:
— 𝖯𝗂𝗑𝖺𝗋 𝖲𝗍𝗎𝖽𝗂𝗈𝗌.ᴿᴾ (@StudiosPixarRP) July 20, 2026
˛⠀➛ 🎬 Pixar Updates — #TSMovieRP
Official film poster — featuring the premiere reminder: August 1st this year. pic.twitter.com/eOaNQE6shT
So far this year, Pixar has brought two films to the big screen: the brand-new title 'Hoppers' and 'Toy Story 5', a massive box-office hit.
ESPN Also Loses High-Profile Talent
Prominent on-air personalities at ESPN are among those being let go. Those departing include Karl Ravech, a network staple since 1993 who hosted 'Baseball Tonight' and anchored 'SportsCenter', alongside former NFL player Ryan Clark, who contributed more than ten years of football analysis to the channel.
However, the majority of job cuts at ESPN affect off-screen staff and are linked to the network's purchase of NFL Network earlier this year.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro informed employees in a Tuesday morning memo obtained by THR, stating: 'Over the past several months, we've made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN. Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future.
As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.' He added that 'while most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted', reassuring staff that management is 'committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition'.
Third Round of Layoffs This Year
Affected staff members were notified on Tuesday morning. This marks the third wave of redundancies this year as CEO Josh D'Amaro and his executive team reshape the organisation under his new 'One Disney' framework.
Disney Cuts Hundreds More Jobs as Pixar Takes Heavy Hit in Streamlining
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) July 21, 2026
Disney is implementing another round of layoffs, cutting hundreds of jobs across divisions including Pixar, ESPN, and National Geographic as part of ongoing corporate streamlining.
The Hollywood Reporter… pic.twitter.com/hrCGwO6bpZ
Disney initially merged its marketing teams under Asad Ayaz in January, resulting in job losses across those departments. In April, D'Amaro announced broader restructuring plans affecting approximately 1,000 workers. While this latest round involves fewer staff, it highlights the company's ongoing efforts to realign operations in response to swift technological shifts.
Disney Pushes Ahead With 'One Disney' Strategy
While D'Amaro is not thought to have issued a message regarding these latest job cuts, he previously outlined his perspective in an April memo.
'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,' D'Amaro stated at the time. '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.'
