News Bob Iger outlines the need to transform the Walt Disney Company resulting in 7000 job losses and $5.5 billion in cost savings

[GimpYancIent]

Though there are some jobs that can be accomplished effectively from home as well as in the office, that does not apply across the board. There is always need for onsite interaction and teamwork. There is a renaissance of realization by the business world that onsite, face to face interaction has value plus beneficial to creative productivity. There is a place for "work from home" but not the prominent place or benefit to the firm that was once thought. Think about it, how valued is an employee to the firm, how important to product generation, how invested is the employee in the firm and the firm's productivity / quality of product, or, It's All About Me?

 

[lightningtap347]

The tone of this thread is strange to me. I wouldn't want to work at a company that wouldn't allow for employee input in company initiatives. What would be the point of acquiring high level talent if you distill the entire operation down to "do what the CEO says, no questions."

How would the company better itself or change and adapt if it operated like the Titanic?

Case in point; y'all spend all day on here complaining and questioning everything that's currently happening at Disney, yet some employees are questioning an initiative they don't like and those same posters are cheer-leading the loss of good talent for voicing their opinion?

Maybe I'm missing something, but these posts don't sound like you care about the health and future of the company. It sounds like y'all are just quick to thump on people who want to work remotely.

 

[Alanzo]

The tone of this thread is strange to me. I wouldn't want to work at a company that wouldn't allow for employee input in company initiatives. What would be the point of acquiring high level talent if you distill the entire operation down to "do what the CEO says, no questions."

How would the company better itself or change and adapt if it operated like the Titanic?

Case in point; y'all spend all day on here complaining and questioning everything that's currently happening at Disney, yet some employees are questioning an initiative they don't like and those same posters are cheer-leading the loss of good talent for voicing their opinion?

Maybe I'm missing something, but these posts don't sound like you care about the health and future of the company. It sounds like y'all are just quick to thump on people who want to work remotely.

Lot of gen x / boomers in anti-wfh camp would be my guess. Which is understandable, younger people grew up fully embracing the internet and really don't know a world where their office job wouldn't be plugged in to the net.

There's a huge generational difference towards attitudes of working from home and work life balance. In my 20s and 30s, at least until covid, I didn't really have a problem going to the office but I could definitely have done my job from home. Covid let me prove that. And my company knows that to retain talented individuals such as myself. They needed to acknowledge that it wasn't really necessary for me to go back into the office once things got better... Guess what they were right.

The only person my age who hates the idea of employees working from home is a hardcore military type guy that works for the government and says he can't monitor contractors if they aren't in the office with him.

 

[Alanzo]

Though there are some jobs that can be accomplished effectively from home as well as in the office, that does not apply across the board. There is always need for onsite interaction and teamwork. There is a renaissance of realization by the business world that onsite, face to face interaction has value plus beneficial to creative productivity. There is a place for "work from home" but not the prominent place or benefit to the firm that was once thought. Think about it, how valued is an employee to the firm, how important to product generation, how invested is the employee in the firm and the firm's productivity / quality of product, or, It's All About Me?

Either you can do the job or not in our capitalist society... an employee's investment in the company is secondary.

I mean most employees have zero financial ownership of the company to begin with, they are only valuable insomuch as they are able to bring value to that company's bottom line in exchange for their paid labor . Everything else you're talking about is just emotional frills the company tries to sell to its employees to make them feel like they are part of something bigger (instead of paying them more I guess). And I totally get it, I'd rather take a pay cut and find meaning in my job than have more money but find my job soulless and depressing.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm advocating for the employee as much as you are advocating for the employer/firm.

 

[lightningtap347]

The only person my age who hates the idea of employees working from home is a hardcore military type guy that works for the government and says he can't monitor contractors if they aren't in the office with him.

Gotcha, so it's either helicopter parents or bad leaders who don't trust their workers to get their job done.

I know Disney is doing this as a way to get people to leave without severance, but some of the responses here and on the Cast Member union thread lead seem to be so miserable that I can't believe people could be so happy putting the thing that makes up their entire personality down.

 

[flynnibus]

The tone of this thread is strange to me. I wouldn't want to work at a company that wouldn't allow for employee input in company initiatives. What would be the point of acquiring high level talent if you distill the entire operation down to "do what the CEO says, no questions."

You don't give feedback to your management outside the company itself.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

Lot of gen x / boomers in anti-wfh camp would be my guess. Which is understandable, younger people grew up fully embracing the internet and really don't know a world where their office job wouldn't be plugged in to the net.

It's 100% a generational difference. Not saying either side is right or wrong, however, and it's foolish to argue that.

I agree that it is/was idiotic to have the petition make it to the press, but I do believe that feedback sent upwards is just as valuable as the other way around.

Also, three days a week is much more reasonable. Four is asinine.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

If you want to work from home to take care of your kids, then you're not WORKING from home. You're taking-care-of-your-kids from home.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who were hired as remote workers and are now being called into the office. I have zero sympathy for people who were always expected to be in the office prior to COVID, because they accepted their jobs with the full understanding of the expectations.

Really this post is all that needs to be said. You do what everyone else in the world does and make it work.

 

[Dranth]

If you want to work from home to take care of your kids, then you're not WORKING from home. You're taking-care-of-your-kids from home.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who were hired as remote workers and are now being called into the office. I have zero sympathy for people who were always expected to be in the office prior to COVID, because they accepted their jobs with the full understanding of the expectations.

Doesn't sound like you worked from home or maybe you did and ran into some issues? Legit asking because that has not been my experience. Most of the people I currently work with have kids and they didn't have that problem.

People are hired to do a job, if someone can get that job done remotely while maintaining quality and not falling behind who cares what they spend their time doing? If they can't, they need to come into the office.

Anecdotal I know, but most of the people I have talked with who have a problem with remote work have a job that just can't be done remotely. They think it is unfair that some people get to work from home while others must come in. I look at remote work as a benefit for jobs that can be done that way. No different than some people get more vacation or higher pay.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

Some people here seems like they are describing what a store called Service Merchandise did and a few others. It went against human psychology and guest service... It did not work out well.

My family loved Service Merchandise in the mid-1980s.

 

[Dranth]

So what the post says is one who is unhappy to directly follow the direction of the CEO is looking to circumvent the system to get an exception. Got it. That person will be one of the first to be fired for refusal to follow a senior directive.

No, what it says is that you don't have to be scared of a CEO/owner and cower in the corner terrified they might notice you. They are just people and have no special powers. If they want to fire me because I asked for something that is important to me, then who cares? I'll go get another job happily as that obviously wasn't a good fit for me.

 

[Lilofan]

No, what it says is that you don't have to be scared of a CEO/owner and cower in the corner terrified they might notice you. They are just people and have no special powers. If they want to fire me because I asked for something that is important to me, then who cares? I'll go get another job happily as that obviously wasn't a good fit for me.

See ya! Not letting you go you for asking but firing you for failure to report back to office, slight difference.

 

[Drdcm]

The tone of this thread is strange to me. I wouldn't want to work at a company that wouldn't allow for employee input in company initiatives. What would be the point of acquiring high level talent if you distill the entire operation down to "do what the CEO says, no questions."

How would the company better itself or change and adapt if it operated like the Titanic?

Case in point; y'all spend all day on here complaining and questioning everything that's currently happening at Disney, yet some employees are questioning an initiative they don't like and those same posters are cheer-leading the loss of good talent for voicing their opinion?

Maybe I'm missing something, but these posts don't sound like you care about the health and future of the company. It sounds like y'all are just quick to thump on people who want to work remotely.

Isn’t that the point of employee satisfaction surveys? I’ll bet you Disney does those regularly.

I can understand your points, but I also think you consistently conflate the employee wants with what is best for the company. The two don’t necessarily align, no matter how much you wish it to be.

I honestly don’t have a clue what the answer is for this one. I will say this though… I’ve been quite disappointed with the product over the last few years. In-person work does promote creativity through on-demand and in-the-moment collaboration.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

i’m just not understanding what the argument is here. Your employer says you have to come back to the office, that’s final. If you don’t like it go be employed somewhere else.

I don’t think any of us are being apologist for Disney. We just understand that if your employer is directing you to do something you have to either comply or go somewhere else.

 

[disneygeek90]

The tone of this thread is strange to me. I wouldn't want to work at a company that wouldn't allow for employee input in company initiatives. What would be the point of acquiring high level talent if you distill the entire operation down to "do what the CEO says, no questions."

How would the company better itself or change and adapt if it operated like the Titanic?

Case in point; y'all spend all day on here complaining and questioning everything that's currently happening at Disney, yet some employees are questioning an initiative they don't like and those same posters are cheer-leading the loss of good talent for voicing their opinion?

Maybe I'm missing something, but these posts don't sound like you care about the health and future of the company. It sounds like y'all are just quick to thump on people who want to work remotely.

As someone who already lives in Orlando, has been in the corporate world (with the same company) for 7 years, and works with a lot of the same third party systems and programs that Disney does that SHOULD make me a very strong candidate, there’s a lot of of concerns I have with the stability of the company and it’s future. Enough that I don’t even care to entertain switching companies. If you’re Disney, that’s an issue.

My current company is incredibly strong and reliable, is allowing 2 days a week wfh, and I understand where I fit. Disney? I’d have lots of concerns if I were to seriously entertain a position at Disney.

 

[Drdcm]

Some people here seems like they are describing what a store called Service Merchandise did and a few others. It went against human psychology and guest service... It did not work out well.

Ok so I have no idea about service merchandise, but I tried to look it up. When I searched “service merchandise guest service” on google, it gave me the Wikipedia page of service merchandise, and then a bunch of Disney results. So weird

 

[erasure fan1]

Isn’t that the point of employee satisfaction surveys? I’ll bet you Disney does those regularly.

As do most companies. It makes them feel all warm and fuzzy that they are listening to the employees. Even though they have no intentions of actually doing anything about the results.

 

[TP2000]

My family loved Service Merchandise in the mid-1980s.

Even as an adult, I loved watching my purchase come down that little conveyor belt from the mysterious back room!

It was like baggage claim at the airport, except you were getting a coffee maker or a camera or a blender. Fun!

As for work-from-home, Bob Iger hit the nail on the head when he announced why he wanted Disney employees back in the office at least four days per week. He said...

“As I’ve been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with. In a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.” -Bob Iger, January, 2023

Perfectly said, and 100% accurate!

The mentor thing is a really good point. How does one mentor and learn if you are at home? Those little one-off conversations at the printer, or at Starbucks, or over lunch, or after the big meeting with the boss, are invaluable to younger or less tenured employee learning their trade or craft! You can not replicate them online any better than you can replicate any other real human emotion or experience online.

 

[TP2000]

Ok so I have no idea about service merchandise, but I tried to look it up. When I searched “service merchandise guest service” on google, it gave me the Wikipedia page of service merchandise, and then a bunch of Disney results. So weird

It had several different names, or variations of it. Out West, it was often called Jafco. It was a catalog showroom store that sold hard goods, household items, and small appliances. It looked like a normal "big box" store, but it was very different.

You went in and there was a giant, snazzy showroom with displays of one example of each product; toasters, Kodak cameras, blenders, radios, etc., etc. Nothing was in its original packaging. You could pick up the item and inspect it and try it out, and there was a little sign that explained its features. Employees hovered about answering questions and demonstrating the unboxed products for you. When you had decided on which thing you wanted, you tore off a little slip from the display and you took the slip to the back of the showroom to give to a clerk where you paid for your item. Behind the showroom there was a giant warehouse where all the boxed merchandise was kept.

They'd send the order slip back to the warehouse and you'd go wait in a little seating lounge nearby, smoking cigarettes and flipping through the latest store catalog and listening to lovely Muzak.

Then your order number would go "ding!' on the light up sign in the lounge and out from the warehouse was a long conveyor belt. Your item would come sliding out from the mysterious warehouse behind the lounge, and off you went home with your new blender or camera or radio!

 

[celluloid]

I thought it was funny and I half brought it up to see who would remember it.

Long story short, my point was they did not make it. Even in their last era they went back to being more of a typical retail store because if you care enough to get it instant in the store, you did not want to right down the tag number and send it to the counter.

Now it would be even worse with Amazon and anything else can order online. Even without the option for Amazon one or two day delivery, it did not work.

It was done with the idea to prevent "shrinkage" or in other words, loss prevention.
It may have, but the stores were not for most, were not enjoyable and they reverted to more of a typical store and finally went out of business.

The novelty of a belt was fun, as other mentioned, but it did not make money or staffing sense.