Disney tech staff press bosses on layoffs they read about in the news

Disney's tech workers used a company town hall on Thursday to ask a blunt question: when will the next layoffs happen? Business Insider reports that two streaming employees who attended say leaders gave no specific answers. Staff say they are learning about possible cuts from news reports, not from their own managers.

What happened

Days before the meeting, Bloomberg reported that Disney is planning to lay off thousands of employees, citing sources familiar with the matter. It said some managers were asked to aim for 20% in annual cost savings. Disney declined to comment to Bloomberg and did not respond to Business Insider.

At the town hall, employees sent questions in writing during the Q&A. One software engineer asked, "Do we know when the cost cutting is targeted to happen?" Two streaming employees said Disney streaming leaders did not say whether cuts were coming or when.

What staff wanted to know

• A veteran asked if morale would improve if staff heard about layoffs and benefit changes from management first.
• Another asked how cuts would affect MPA, the Media Platform Alliance, which includes streaming distribution, infrastructure and metadata teams.
• Another asked what motivated early retirement offers to certain higher-ups, first reported by Deadline in late August.
• Another asked what 66 new hires from Character.AI will work on.

Disney is paying $60 million to hire those 66 people from Character.AI, an AI chatbot startup that filed for bankruptcy in mid-October. Disney's new tech chief, Karandeep Anand, was Character.AI's CEO before joining Disney in early October.

How it feels inside

Four employees told Business Insider that layoffs, and reports of them, are hurting morale. A high-level engineer called the reports "very demotivating" and said a positive annual review does not mean safety. Another engineer said everyone is looking more "busy," with some senior people attending meetings they would otherwise skip.

After the meeting, staff vented on Blind, an anonymous forum that checks work email addresses. One user called the town hall "forced positivity."

The bigger picture

Disney has had three rounds of cuts in CEO Josh D'Amaro's first seven months. In late October it also filed a WARN notice in California, a layoff filing, signaling plans to let go of 159 park employees.

What is not known yet

Disney has not confirmed a new round of layoffs, how many jobs would go, or when. It has not said whether the 20% savings goal applies across the company. Those answers are still missing for the people who would be affected.