Disney's First Layoffs Under New CEO D'Amaro Include Severance Packages Tied to Tenure

Disney has initiated its first round of layoffs under newly appointed CEO Josh D'Amaro, offering severance packages calibrated to employees' tenure and organizational level. The layoffs stem from D'Amaro's consolidation of the company's enterprise marketing and brand teams earlier this year. Affected employees are receiving severance aligned with Disney's standard handbook guidelines, and some workers have also secured prorated bonuses, paid vacation payouts, and extended health coverage lasting several months, according to four laid-off staffers who spoke with Business Insider.

D'Amaro attempted to soften the blow in his memo to staff, emphasizing that departing employees "have done meaningful work here and care deeply about this company" and that "these decisions are not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company." However, Disney faces mounting pressure to balance competing business demands: its parks division continues to show strength, but the company must simultaneously grow streaming profits while propping up its traditional television business as cord-cutting accelerates.

Disney's severance approach appears more generous than some industry peers' recent offers. Paramount offered two weeks of pay per year of service to hybrid workers reluctant to return in-person, while NBCUniversal took a blunt approach last fall, offering a standardized eight weeks of pay and three months of health coverage. The Washington Post, by contrast, kept laid-off employees on payroll for over two months following its February layoffs, providing four weeks base pay plus additional weeks based on tenure—potentially reaching 45 weeks for long-tenured staff. Disney's formula, while tenure-based, appears to fall somewhere in the middle of these industry benchmarks.