Disney is stepping up enforcement of its return-to-office policy, with employees who continue working remotely in violation of company requirements potentially facing termination.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney allowed corporate employees to work from home as part of efforts to slow the spread of the virus. In March 2023, then-CEO Bob Iger began requiring employees to work from company offices four days a week, with some exceptions for technology teams.
(Photo: Disney)
In an internal memo announcing the change, Iger emphasized the importance of in-person collaboration. He said that in a creative business, nothing could replace the ability to connect, observe and create alongside colleagues through physical presence in the workplace, as well as opportunities for professional development through learning from leaders and mentors.
Disney, however, was reported to have taken a relatively lenient approach to enforcing the requirement.
The entertainment giant is now expanding its in-office mandate to cover more corporate employees, requiring them to report to the workplace four days a week, according to a new report by Business Insider.
On Sept. 14, Disney informed some product and technology employees who had been working remotely and were previously exempt from the requirement that they would now have to comply, according to the report. The company is also warning that employees who fail to work from the office four days a week could be fired.
Business Insider reported that Disney’s latest move is intended to strengthen enforcement of its existing policy rather than represent a broader strategic shift.
The expanded return-to-office requirement comes after Josh D’Amaro became CEO in March, succeeding Iger, who led Disney for nearly 18 years across two separate terms.
Shortly after taking over, D’Amaro cut about 1,000 jobs in April. In a memo announcing the layoffs, reported by Variety, D’Amaro said the goal was to “streamline” the company’s operations.
He said Disney had spent recent months examining ways to make its operations more efficient and that the rapid pace of change across the industries in which the company operates required it to continually assess how to develop a more flexible and technologically oriented workforce capable of meeting future needs.
Disney is not alone in scaling back remote work. Its latest enforcement push comes amid a broader trend among major U.S. companies, some of which have adopted even stricter return-to-office requirements.
Dell, for example, began requiring employees who live within an hour’s commute of an office to work on-site five days a week in March 2025. The company said the policy would help it keep pace with the rapid rate of technological innovation.