Pixar is set to layoff an undetermined number of staffers in the back half of 2024, Variety has confirmed.
News of the upcoming cuts was first reported by TechCrunch Thursday, though sources at Pixar say estimates included in that story — as much as 20% of workforce being let go and Pixar being left with less 1,000 employees — are larger than what is actually being considered by leadership at the Disney-owned studio.
Discussions surrounding layoffs are beginning now as production wraps on multiple series and films that were in the works in 2023 when reductions occurred across other divisions at Disney, meaning these cuts were under consideration previously but on hold while existing projects needed to be completed.
Pixar’s upcoming film slate includes “Inside Out 2” in 2024, “Elio” in 2025 and two untitled films set for 2026 release.
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Disney reached a goal of 7,000 layoffs last May completed over the course of three waves of large cuts that were first announced in February 2023, and eventually the number pink-slipped by the company topped 8,000. Those eliminations focused most heavily on the media divisions, including the not-yet-profitable streamer Disney+, and left the parks largely untouched, ahead of the summer.
Disney’s layoffs in 2023 — which represented around 3.6% of total headcount of approximately 220,000 worldwide as of Oct. 1, 2022 — are part of the media conglomerate’s efforts to achieve about $5.5 billion in cost savings. Of that, $2.5 billion represents “non-content costs” (including labor costs). Disney is aiming for an annualized reduction of $3 billion in non-sports content costs, expected to be realized over the next several years.
In mid-2023, Pixar laid off 75 employees as part of Disney’s companywide cutbacks, per a Reuters report.
