In every turning point and revolution I have witnessed, the pattern repeated itself: the market has no patience for nostalgia. It happened again. But this time, the blow came from what many considered the untouchable temple of corporate culture.
In April 2026, Disney laid off 1,000 people. The shocking detail? Contrary to what one might think, the company was not bleeding. Quite the opposite. Annual revenue had risen to 94 billion dollars. Streaming, which was the Achilles heel, turned profitable. The parks broke records, surpassing 10 billion in a single quarter. The company was buying back 8 billion in shares. And even so, when everyone understood the moment was very positive, the guillotine came down. Even a veteran artist with 16 years at the company, who drew the first lines of Captain America, was let go by email.
But what could be behind this decision? Why does a company that is winning the game decide to cut into the flesh?
Disney's new CEO explained in an internal memo, and his statement summarizes the spirit of our time: "We need a more agile and technologically capable workforce". I will not get into the irony of someone who writes about modern work choosing a memo to communicate. But ok.
In practice, this means the following: the old culture, the one where years of service served as a protective shield, no longer fits the new game. Disney realized that a heavy organization, filled with people disconnected from the new technological reality, is a time bomb. The corporate habit of keeping those who do not adapt simply out of attachment to the past is over.
This is not exclusive to Disney. Look at the pattern: Meta cut 21,000 people in two years. Google laid off 12,000. Microsoft and Amazon trimmed entire structures, even while posting record profits. This is not a financial crisis. It is cultural reengineering.
We are living through a redistribution of competencies. AI and new technologies did not arrive only to automate repetitive tasks. They arrived to raise the bar for what it means to be a useful professional. At every level, from intern to board of directors, integration with technology has stopped being a differentiator and become the oxygen of the operation.
Article originally published on GazzConecta.
