Archive · 3 Oct 2026
Disney CEO Calls Latest Layoffs “Extremely Painful” Amid Streamlining
Disney is reducing the number of people who work for the company.
Dana Walden, a senior Disney leader, said the cuts are very painful.
She said Disney is trying to make its business structure simpler.
Walden explained that Disney grew through years of buying other businesses.
Those deals added different parts to the company.
They also led to separate leadership teams and financial structures.
She discussed the changes at a conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden called the latest workforce reduction “extremely painful.”
Walden defended the cuts as part of an effort to streamline Disney’s business structure.
She spoke at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Walden said Disney’s current organizational model partly reflects years of acquisitions.
She said those deals expanded Disney across businesses while creating separate leadership teams and profit-and-loss structures.
- Who
- Disney and Dana Walden, its President and Chief Creative Officer.
- What
- Disney is making a workforce reduction that Walden defended as part of an effort to streamline the company.
- When
- Walden spoke about the cuts on Thursday; the article does not specify a date.
- Where
- The Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles.
- Why
- Walden said Disney is seeking to streamline a business structure shaped partly by years of acquisitions.
- Company
- Disney
- Executive
- Dana Walden, President and Chief Creative Officer
- Workforce action
- A fresh round of layoffs
- Walden's description
- “Extremely painful”
- Stated rationale
- Streamlining Disney’s business structure
- Conference
- Bloomberg Screentime
- Conference location
- Los Angeles