This is the kind of week at Disney that makes you stop and read the headline twice. On one side of the building, a thousand employees are clearing out their desks after the company's brand-new CEO confirmed that their positions have been eliminated. On the other side, Disney World is rolling out the welcome mat for fresh applicants, offering on-the-spot job offers at an open hiring event later this month. Same company. Same week. Very different energy.
Meet the New Boss
Josh D'Amaro officially became the CEO of The Walt Disney Company on March 18, taking over from Bob Iger, who is staying on in an advisory role through the end of fiscal 2026. His first few weeks in the chair have been anything but quiet. Reports surfaced almost immediately that he pushed Imagineers to rethink the scale of the Disney Villains land planned for Magic Kingdom, though the company has not confirmed any specific changes. Then came the memo.
On April 14, D'Amaro sent a letter to employees confirming that roughly 1,000 roles are being cut. The layoffs are concentrated in marketing, connected to a restructuring of the company's marketing operations that was announced back in January. Some employees were already notified before the letter went out. Beyond the individual cuts, Disney also quietly eliminated several open positions that had not yet been filled, shrinking the overall headcount without additional notifications.
D'Amaro's letter was direct. He acknowledged that the people losing jobs had done meaningful work and that the cuts were about restructuring operations, not performance. He used words like ‘compassion' and ‘respect'. Whether that lands differently when you are the one being let go is another conversation entirely.
The Job Fair Nobody Expected This Week
While all of that was unfolding, Disney World announced it is hosting an in-person hiring event on April 28 at the Walt Disney World Casting Services Center, running from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. The role they are filling is Attraction Mechanic, which is as essential as it gets when your business is a theme park that runs seven days a week and cannot afford a ride to go down at noon on a Saturday.
This is not a role for someone who just likes Disney. Disney wants candidates with at least of years of mechanical maintenance experience, including hydraulics, pneumatics, gearboxes, and ride systems. Applicants need to read schematics, work from blueprints, and hold a valid Florida driver's license. The starting wage is $29.59 per hour, and full-time hires have access to Disney Aspire, the company's program that pays 100 percent of tuition for eligible hourly Cast Members returning to school. Full availability is required, including nights, weekends, and every holiday on the calendar.
The location is 1515 E Buena Vista Drive in Orlando. Parking is free at the Grapefruit Garage. Disney says you should apply online before attending to move things along, though computers will be on site. Budget up to three hours if you are going.
So What Is Actually Going On With The Job Fair
Here is the part where the story gets a little less confusing. The jobs being cut and the jobs being created are not even in the same universe of the company. Marketing departments are being restructured and trimmed. The parks are looking for skilled tradespeople who can keep multimillion-dollar ride systems running safely. These two things have nothing to do with each other, and Disney is not pulling one over on anyone by doing both in the same week.
What it does paint is a picture of a company in motion under new leadership. D'Amaro is trimming the parts of the business he sees as bloated or misaligned, while simultaneously ensuring the operational backbone of the parks stays staffed and functional. Whether that broader vision holds together over the next year is the question worth asking.
For now, if you have four years of mechanical experience, a Florida license, and the ability to work a holiday weekend without complaining about it, Disney would apparently very much like to meet you on April 28. The rest of the company may be going through it, but the rides still need to run.
