Disney’s Rise on the Fall of Its Workers

More than 200,000 workers face difficulties as the company aims to offset past losses

In 2027, Disney plans to no longer allow spouses of Disney employees to enroll in company health insurance if those spouses have alternative coverage through their employers, regardless of the quality of the benefits.

The policy change was announced to over 200,000 Disney employees, according to reporting by Puck, with lower-paid and hourly workers i.e: cashiers, food servers, and even the character performers that everyone loves are likely facing the greatest impact due to potential increases in premiums and costs under alternative plans.

This restriction is part of Disney’s “Total Rewards” program adjustments, a program that is said to include comprehensive compensation and employee benefits. This program also includes cuts to parental leave and the cessation of adoption and surrogacy benefits, which shows a trend as companies prepare for projected healthcare cost increases of 9.5 percent in 2027.

CartoonBrew released an article discussing that one of the biggest potential reasons for the decision was that Disney is trying to buy back stocks and only have a select few investors hold on to them to increase their value.

In 2026, Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, took over after Bob Iger proposed Project Imagine, which plans to unify the corporation and bring back millions of dollars into the company. According to Final Round AI, this is to make it easier to combine the company’s multiple facets and potential duplicate roles, i.e., television, streaming, sports divisions, and film.

Historically, Disney’s layoffs have aligned with division consolidation and leadership changes. Since the changes that occurred in 2022, including the 8,000 layoffs, the company has continued to tweak its workforce in response to shareholder pressures.

Even though there have already been over 8,000 layoffs, another 1,000 is only 1 percent of the company’s workforce of 231,000. Although this seems relatively minimal, the implications of more layoffs during a new CEO’s tenure are significant.

Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth, but what about the people who work there, with over 231,000 workers making the magic happen across parks and the corporate world? Disney prides itself on being safe for children and families; how well are workers treated?