On the heels of other company layoffs, Walt Disney Co. announced Monday, Aug. 24, that it\u2019s offering early retirement buyout packages to certain executives.<\/p>\n
The \u201cVoluntary Early Retirement Opportunity\u201d offer was outlined in an internal memo<\/a> sent to Disney employees from Sonia Coleman, a senior executive vice president in charge of human resources, and provided to the Southern California News Group.<\/p>\n The offer is a \u201ctime-limited,\u201d company-sponsored program that gives eligible executives the opportunity to retire now with a sweetened retirement package of pay and other benefits that recognizes service and contributions.<\/p>\n The reduction in staff comes as the entertainment giant continues to look for cost-cutting measures.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past few years, we\u2019ve made real changes to how we operate, and we\u2019re still in that process,\u201d wrote Coleman, who cited the entertainment giant\u2019s improved financial progress made in its third fiscal quarter that ended June 27.<\/p>\n On Aug. 5, the company reported $2.64 billion in net income in the quarter, down 49.8% from a year-ago, on revenue of $25.25 billion, a 7% jump over the same year-earlier period. Net income hit $5.26 billion in the 2025 period due to one-time tax benefits included in the results.<\/p>\n The early retirement offer comes amid ongoing layoffs, with the elimination of 1,000 roles announced in April<\/a>, followed by a round of hundreds of job cuts in July. Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D\u2019Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston told investors earlier this month that more may be coming.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain highly focused on reducing costs across the enterprise to create incremental capacity to invest for growth and are evaluating a variety of levers, including reductions in labor and SG&A (selling, general and administrative expenses),\u201d wrote D\u2019Amaro and Johnston in an Aug. 5, 2026, letter to shareholders<\/a>. \u201cWe are mid-stream in this work and will provide future updates on our progress.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Amaro, who succeeded long-time CEO Bob Iger, took over as chief executive on March 18.<\/p>\n Coleman did not state how many employees were offered early retirement. However, after the \u201ctime-limited\u201d offer expires \u2014 which she didn\u2019t say when that would happen \u2014 remaining \u201corganizational needs\u201d would be addressed through the company\u2019s standard reduction-in-force process on a separate timeline.<\/p>\n Last October<\/a>, Disneyland in Anaheim laid off 100 salaried employees<\/a> as Orange County\u2019s largest employer recalibrated its business ahead of the busy Christmas holiday season.<\/p>\n The company filed multiple layoff notices over the past year with the state\u2019s Employment Development Department.\u00a0In April<\/a>, Disney filed one notice regarding 53 layoffs at its Disney Entertainment Operations in Burbank.<\/p>\n The layoffs were made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act \u2014 commonly referred to as WARN. Such notices are required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur.<\/p>\n