Disneyland and Disney World lay off 28,000 employees amid pandemic struggles - OCR/SCNG

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

>>Disney will lay off 28,000 employees at Disneyland and Walt Disney World as the company continues to struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the six-month closure of its Anaheim theme parks.

Disney parks boss Josh D’Amaro announced the layoffs on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in a statement and a letter to cast members, Disney parlance for employees.

“In light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic — exacerbated in California by the State’s unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen — we have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels, having kept non-working Cast Members on furlough since April, while paying healthcare benefits,” D’Amaro said in a statement.<<
 

AJFireman

Well-Known Member
Here is what was posted on Disney Official Twitter. But guidelines are coming soon why would they do this? (Sarcasm)
 

Attachments

  • 20200929_135258.jpg
    20200929_135258.jpg
    219.2 KB · Views: 197

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I'm honestly surprised they lasted this long. Thousands of employees in Anaheim will now be laid off permanently.

But it was noble of Disney to try and keep everyone only furloughed for as long as possible. Disneyland has now been closed for seven months, and there is still no known reopening date and no known process by which the parks can reopen once a date is known.

It's just amazing they've lasted as long as they did. This will leave quite a mark for a long time.
 

flutas

Well-Known Member
I'm honestly surprised they lasted this long. Thousands of employees in Anaheim will now be laid off permanently.

But it was noble of Disney to try and keep everyone only furloughed for as long as possible. Disneyland has now been closed for seven months, and there is still no known reopening date and no known process by which the parks can reopen once a date is known.

It's just amazing they've lasted as long as they did. This will leave quite a mark for a long time.
They lasted this long due to PPP or other federal aid guidelines imo.
We will be seeing a lot more starting as of Oct 1st.
 

smooch

Well-Known Member
This was expected but still incredibly sad. It’s amazing we’ve gotten to 7 months of closure while Florida and international parks have proven their ability to operate with safety measures in place. My heart goes out to everyone who will be affected by this. It’s going to be interesting to see what effects this has on the experience of going to the parks eventually when things do reopen in 2021 or something along those lines at this rate.
 

AJFireman

Well-Known Member
Here is the letter that Josh sent out to CM.

Team,

I write this note to you today to share some difficult decisions that we have had to make regarding our Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products organization.

Let me start with my belief that the heart and soul of our business is and always will be people. Just like all of you, I love what I do. I also love being surrounded by people who think about their roles as more than jobs, but as opportunities to be a part of something special, something different, and something truly magical.

Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, we were forced to close our businesses around the world. Few of us could have imagined how significantly the pandemic would impact us -- both at work and in our daily lives. We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case. And, as a result, today we are now forced to reduce the size of our team across executive, salaried, and hourly roles.

As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy. For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company. We’ve cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our cast members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.

As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic.

Thank you for your dedication, patience and understanding during these difficult times. I know that these changes will be challenging. It will take time for all of us to process this information and its impact. We will be scheduling appointments with our affected salaried and non-union hourly employees over the next few days. Additionally, today we will begin the process of discussing next steps with unions. We encourage you to visit The Hub or the WDI Homepage for any support you may need.

For those who will be affected by this decision, I want to thank you for all that you have done for our company and our guests. While we don’t know when the pandemic will be behind us, we are confident in our resilience, and hope to welcome back Cast Members and employees when we can.

Most sincerely,

Josh D’Amaro
Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
 

CJR

Well-Known Member
It's hard to know who is going to be impacted, but with DL closed, you know that a good amount of people in California will be hearing bad news. My heart breaks for those people, who are walking into an abyss of poor employment choices, especially in the immediate area that most of them live.

I know I mentioned it in another thread a couple weeks ago that this was coming, but it's still sad to hear it. Hope they can find a way to reopen soon and rebuild what has been lost. Hopefully a vaccine and better treatments will come so that there's no where to go, but up.
 

Jefro

Active Member
It's hard to imagine there is much hope of the opening happening at this point in the story. 7 months of paying benefits of some kind just isn't tenable, in terms of financial hit, without having to make cuts at some point. Makes me wonder what the financial situation of the AP refunds will be if this continues (I know we are due over $2400 come the middle of October).

So bummed for the CMs - here's hoping this will move the process forward.
 
Last edited:

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Holy carp.....
o_O

This is really sad to hear despite knowing this would likely happen.
There was talk of 'massive layoffs' coming on this very Forum about a month or so ago, and rumblings behind the scenes.
So even though it's not completely unexpected, i still feel for all of those CMs that are now losing their roles.

Absolutely feel for you, folks.
This sucks.
🥺

-
 

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
Well, now El Super and 2 Mountain lions are safe.

And all the other people no one ever heard of who only post in Disneyland closure threads arguing that the parks aren't important and should stay closed until we all resemble the skeletons in the Pirates of the Caribbean are having their own demented version of Christmas right now.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom