Saturday, 31 October 2026, 01:35
The roundup tracks announced and planned workforce reductions across entertainment, broadcasting, technology and digital media, listed from newest to oldest.
Layoffs across entertainment and media have continued amid an industry downturn that dates back to mid-2024. The sector has also faced the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the dual Hollywood strikes and the Los Angeles wildfires that began in January 2025. Deadline is tracking changes as the industry contends with these pressures and the Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount merger.
On the Friday before Halloween, Hello Sunshine laid off half its staff – about 30 people – as it refocuses on film, television and Reese’s Book Club. The move came shortly after Reese Witherspoon partnered with Paris-based content group Mediawan to buy back her production company from Candle Media, which acquired a majority stake in Hello Sunshine in 2021.
Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to more than a quarter of its staff, or around 60,000 people, to offset spending on AI and data centers.
Electronic Arts (EA), which went private in August, cut about 3% of its workforce – roughly 400 jobs – and shut down video game developer BioWare in October.
Netflix began a major round of layoffs in mid-October, affecting up to 6% of its global workforce, or around 1,000 jobs. It was the company’s largest wave of cuts in four years. Those leaving include film executives Doug Belgrad and Sheroum Kim, and television executives Lisa Lang McMullen, James Oh, Andrew McQuinn and Carolina Garcia.
Disney’s latest layoffs, as of the end of September 2026, are expected to affect a couple hundred employees in technology and human res this year
About 110 staff in the unit face compulsory redundancy, while 35 vacancies will be closed. The BBC expects a further 180 layoffs in Media Tech through voluntary redundancy, including the 150 previously
Xbox, Microsoft’s video game division, announced further layoffs in September as part of a “reset” and restructuring, following July’s cuts of 3,200 workers. The additional reductions were intended to eliminate 268 roles at Halo Studios and other first-party studios.
British broadcaster Channel 4 plans to cut 340 jobs by the end of 2026.
Cineverse said in mid-August that it had made layoffs to save $1.8 million a year.
In early August, E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson attributed a 12% workforce reduction to an AI “revolution.”
We’re leaning into AI, automation, technology and the centralization of some roles. The changes will make the company’s local station group “a technology-forward, AI-powered broadcast journalism company dedicated to serving our communities with the same high-quality, fact-based reporting that they’ve relied on us for over the past 150 years.”
Two months after Byron Allen completed his purchase of BuzzFeed, the online publisher disclosed plans to cut 35% of its staff and dedicated contractors across its brands.
Pixar and National Geographic were among the divisions hit hardest by Disney layoffs in late July. Fewer than 100 jobs were cut Most affected employees worked at National Geographic, across its cable network, editorial and operations teams. About a dozen ABC News employees were also affected, along with isolated cuts in other DET divisions
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro confirmed cuts in a memo to employees on Tuesday, July 21. They mainly affect behind-the-scenes production staff, though several on-air figures are also leaving, including lead baseball play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech and NFL analyst Ryan Clark.
Microsoft’s Xbox division announced in early July that it would cut 3,200 jobs. About 1,600 were expected to take effect immediately, with the rest spread across fiscal year 2027. The cuts amount to a 20% workforce reduction.
At the end of April, Quixote Studios began winding down its Atlanta operations to refocus red to eliminate about 70 jobs between Atlanta and Los Angeles over several quarters to limit disruption to clients. Leases at the company’s Los Angeles studios will also end, except for the Griffith Park location
Barry Diller’s Interactive Corp. (IAC) renamed itself People Inc. In an April memo, the company outlined the thinking behind the change and said it expected corporate staff cuts as it refined its workforce. IAC estimated the changes would generate $40 million in annual run-rate cost savings.
In late April, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it planned to cut 10% of its workforce. An internal memo said about 8,000 employees would be let go starting May 20, and 6,000 open roles would remain unfilled. The memo said AI could be a factor in the cuts.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said the company would cut 16% of its full-time staff, or around 1,000 employees.
- CBS News will shut down its 99-year radio network and cut about 6 percent of newsroom staff, forcing affiliates to find replacements and signaling wider company restructuring.
- Keanu Reeves revealed he almost used the stage name “Chuck Spadina” before sticking with his real name in a new podcast episode.
- New US applications for unemployment benefits fell to 197,000 last week, keeping claims below 200,000 for a month. The trend points to limited layoffs, though some jobseekers still struggle to find work.
