Disney to layoff 28,000 in US theme parks

I'm drinking a tall glass of bourbon tonight.

I figured this was coming as the new fiscal year is about to begin. I never would have thought the number would be quite this high.

My social media feed is filled with nervous, sad, and scared former coworkers. Nobody knows who is going to be affected yet. My heart goes out to everyone.

I can’t wait for this story to show up on the rollback, and this horrific year is behind us.

That seems like an incredible number to me. How many employees does the theme park division ordinarily have?

Over 100k in the US according to the article. I read in another article that this layoff was 25% of their US workforce.

I wonder what the mix will be. California hasn't opened yet, and we still have no indication about when it will.

I am honestly amazed at how the Disney stock is holding up, given that the parks are not open and movie production / new releases generally are not occurring to the theaters. Just goes to show how diversified the company is to be weathering the situation as it is.

Disney+ is racking up subscribers by the millions, but I can't imagine it's more than a drop in the bucket compared to the loss of theme park revenue or movie revenue. Though it does appear that Mulan generated a pretty decent haul through Disney+premiere sales. At least enough to cover its budget.

The Sentinel is reporting 6,700 at Walt Disney World will be affected

Wow, I wonder if that means 22k in California. The announcement was about the decision, so I assume there will be cuts to DCL as well, though the vast majority of that work force is international contract anyway.

A friend posted this on Facebook... I know the poverty is bad in Osceola County, but this is really bad

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/kissimmee-star-motel/

I really feel for that many people, part time or not, as that is a huge number of people being let go. What I wonder is what this will do to the parks when they finally are able to reopen, as I've got to believe there will be a tremendous amount of "initial training" that will need to be done. I really can't imagine what the public would say when Disneyland finally reopens if it was in any way similar to July 17, 1955.

I just assumed it would be awhile before I would see the impact here in Orlando or at least some time before my friends were impacted. My close friend, like inside my Covid bubble close, got his phone call this morning. He started with Disney shortly after I did so this is so much more real now. What sucks so much for him is he won't even get to see his projects finish. He's a designer with Imagineering and has some pretty awesome projects going on for the next couple years.

My glass of bourbon just got taller tonight.

Just heard from a friend and former Disney co-worker that started when I did in 2008. 12 years of service, the last several in a variety of leadership positions. Most recently was on opening team of the new fancy restaurant in the new Coronado Springs tower. Has been back since May. Stellar employee. Laid off today effective immediately. Still unsure of any potential severance, but it seems unlikely.

It's pretty serious when it's reaching into the offices and administration. I had an offer for a very lucrative contract job offer back in February, and I'm really glad that I didn't take it. Not only is this bad for the employees, but it's going to take them years to build back the employee base when they eventually revert back to a growth mode.

I remember being a safari driver in 2009 when the last round of cuts took place across WDW. I remember how tough it was then to see it happen. I'm all but certain that was absolutely nothing compared to what it's like there today.

So far I can't really see a pattern, other than it hasn't hit any unionized hourly roles yet. But I can't find any salaried and non-unionized hourly roles that haven't been hit to some degree.

I was just talking with some co-workers today that we noticed there isn't a pattern. It's been Cast Members with 40+ years to those with less than 10 years and everything in between. I was told today that a Leader of mine who has been around for about 40 years pulled the trigger on retirement hoping that it might save someone else. In my 25 years of being employed I have never been through something like this and it is a lot to take in. Seeing so much heartache in my family and friends is taking its toll.

I opened another bottle of bourbon.

That's rough. I was laid-off for the first time early in my software career, in 2001 (and again in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2018). The first time, it really messed with my sense of self-worth and identity. The last time, it pissed me off, but in an up market it didn't matter that much, and even today, people in my line of work aren't hurting for opportunities. But this is way different, in part because it's Disney and people have long careers there. Heck, it's practically the theme for the One Day At Disney shorts. This sets back all of those folks, and it sets the company back as well as disturbs its culture in a way that will not easily rebound, maybe for a decade. I really feel for folks.

Abigail doesn't like the decision either:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-bz-abigail-disn...story.html

Lots of difficult decisions being made. Not just limited to theme parks or hospitality industries.