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

el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
GimpYancIent said:
Ahhhhhhhh! That is one scary thought. She has a lot of difficulty with numbers.
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If nothing else though, she's calling attention to how poorly the layoffs at Disney were handled. Disney won a lot of points by furloughing initially instead of laying off, and continuing to pay for benefits. They asked their executive team to continue working at a reduced salary while the company was transitioning. They were all good moves. All that good will went flying out the window though, when they restored the executive salaries just prior to laying off a bunch of churro spring roll vendors in Florida and blaming California for it. There were definitely better ways to handle that.

Even if you count yourself as one of the staunchest "greed-is-good" capitalists, you still have to recognize that having a voice of opposition is needed. She fills that role nicely.
 
G

GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
el_super said:
If nothing else though, she's calling attention to how poorly the layoffs at Disney were handled. Disney won a lot of points by furloughing initially instead of laying off, and continuing to pay for benefits. They asked their executive team to continue working at a reduced salary while the company was transitioning. They were all good moves. All that good will went flying out the window though, when they restored the executive salaries just prior to laying off a bunch of churro spring roll vendors in Florida and blaming California for it. There were definitely better ways to handle that.

Even if you count yourself as one of the staunchest "greed-is-good" capitalists, you still have to recognize that having a voice of opposition is needed. She fills that role nicely.
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Fair point. She is a very squeaky wheel.
 
el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
Captn EO said:
At the end of the day these CEOs are valuable, especially in times like this, and can hop
to many other companies vs the stress they deal with at Disney. It makes sense from my perspective.
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I don't disagree that executive talent is important, and that Disney probably pays them appropriately. The way they handled it just looked bad. Timing wise, it's very unlikely that someone wasn't aware of the impending layoffs at the same time they OK'd restoring the executive salaries.

Considering too, how obvious the layoffs were and how everyone understood they were coming, Disney could have been more actively involved in working with the unions and salaried Cast Members to determine which options would be best for everyone. Such as giving people the option of staying on furlough with reduced benefits, or accepting a decrease in pay or hours. There's always other options, but Disney took the route of cutting payroll rather dramatically, which is typical of companies that don't want layoff news lingering for days or months.

So while Disney's actions are at least somewhat justifiable, the methods themselves were rather messy, and overall there's no reason the Wall Street First system that justifies these actions can't be called into question at a broader scale.
 
Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
Regarding Senator Warren's comments, the executive pay was not the main point of criticism. The biggest issue is the stock buybacks. In fiscal year 2016 alone Disney spent 7.5 billion dollars on stock buybacks. Disney also pays a good dividend which some including large stakeholders in the company are urging Disney to stop paying right now.

This is a Warren pet issue and yes it can get a little over the top. However with the Fox acquisition and buybacks, Disney is more leveraged than it probably should be even before the pandemic.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Travel Junkie said:
Regarding Senator Warren's comments, the executive pay was not the main point of criticism. The biggest issue is the stock buybacks. In fiscal year 2016 alone Disney spent 7.5 billion dollars on stock buybacks. Disney also pays a good dividend which some including large stakeholders in the company are urging Disney to stop paying right now.

This is a Warren pet issue and yes it can get a little over the top. However with the Fox acquisition and buybacks, Disney is more leveraged than it probably should be even before the pandemic.
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A large percentage of Disney Stock is held by Pension Funds.

So are we supposed to tell State Employees, Teachers, etc. that they should get smaller pensions?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Travel Junkie said:
Regarding Senator Warren's comments, the executive pay was not the main point of criticism. The biggest issue is the stock buybacks. In fiscal year 2016 alone Disney spent 7.5 billion dollars on stock buybacks. Disney also pays a good dividend which some including large stakeholders in the company are urging Disney to stop paying right now.

This is a Warren pet issue and yes it can get a little over the top. However with the Fox acquisition and buybacks, Disney is more leveraged than it probably should be even before the pandemic.
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I get it, and yet... What do stock buybacks in 2016 have to do with layoffs in 2020? It's water under the bridge at this point, and expenditures that happened years before Covid arrived.

Heck, they paid for a brand new Magic Happens parade in 2019 and spent a lot of money on that. And they still laid people off in 2020. What do previous years expenditures from a previously successful company have to do with layoffs when the company is suddenly shut down and struggling in 2020?

I don't get where Senator Warren was going with that line of thought.

I would agree though, that the optics of restoring executive pay to 100% before mass layoffs was not good. Although you risk a flight of executives leaving Disney if you dock their pay by 25% for too long, the optics and 3 second headline on that topic are just never flattering for any company.
 
D

disneycp

Active Member
TP2000 said:
I get it, and yet... What do stock buybacks in 2016 have to do with layoffs in 2020? It's water under the bridge at this point, and expenditures that happened years before Covid arrived.

Heck, they paid for a brand new Magic Happens parade in 2019 and spent a lot of money on that. And they still laid people off in 2020. What do previous years expenditures from a previously successful company have to do with layoffs when the company is suddenly shut down and struggling in 2020?

I don't get where Senator Warren was going with that line of thought.

I would agree though, that the optics of restoring executive pay to 100% before mass layoffs was not good. Although you risk a flight of executives leaving Disney if you dock their pay by 25% for too long, the optics and 3 second headline on that topic are just never flattering for any company.
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Spot on.
 
Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I don't get where Senator Warren was going with that line of thought.
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Well what she was thinking is that is in the wheelhouse of one of her main talking points. :)

Generally speaking corporate buybacks are an issue that needs to be addressed IMO. While we focus on Disney here, Warren isn't picking on them. She would and does say that about any company that has engaged in these sort of practices. Corporate business practices are defining issue of hers.

I agree with her on the larger issue, but not specifically Disney. Pretty much everything they do was severely affected by Covid. The only bright spot is streaming and that barely launched.

If they hadn't engaged in buybacks, would they have 28,000 layoffs? Maybe, maybe not. Honestly my thought is that Chapek would have done deep cuts over and extended period of time even if there was no pandemic. He doesn't exactly have a reputation of spending money. He loves to cut a budget. This gives him the perfect cover and he can even blame the state of California!
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I will say that this is easily only the first round of layoffs, especially for Disneyland.

There will be more layoffs over the next 6 months, for both hourly and salaried CM's. There just has to be.

Even when they reopen they will apparently be limited to 25% of their capacity. They only did layoffs to account for the first fiscal quarter of having no business on both coasts, but now they are headed into the third fiscal quarter of no business in Anaheim. And coming out of that full long-term closure they'll be limited to 25% capacity? Yikes!

There will be plenty more layoffs for Anaheim ahead. I imagine they'll hold off on the next round until after Christmas. But the next round could be even bigger for the Anaheim property. I can't see a way around that, as this last round of layoffs just didn't cut enough staff for what their future business will be limited to.
 
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

1HAPPYGHOSTHOST

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I will say that this is easily only the first round of layoffs, especially for Disneyland.

There will be more layoffs over the next 6 months, for both hourly and salaried CM's. There just has to be.

Even when they reopen they will apparently be limited to 25% of their capacity. They only did layoffs to account for the first fiscal quarter of having no business on both coasts, but now they are headed into the third fiscal quarter of no business in Anaheim. And coming out of that full long-term closure they'll be limited to 25% capacity? Yikes!

There will be plenty more layoffs for Anaheim ahead. I imagine they'll hold off on the next round until after Christmas. But the next round could be even bigger for the Anaheim property. I can't see a way around that, as this last round of layoffs just didn't cut enough staff for what their future business will be limited to.
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Where is my Friday post???
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Looks like that '28,000' number is about to increase in the near future ....considering today's news regarding California theme parks.

😐

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Agreed.

At the very least, they will need to put a bunch of the CM's that were brought back in the last 90 days onto furlough again.

But in the longer term, more layoffs are a necessity now. I just hope they can wait until after Christmas.
 
Jiggsawpuzzle35

Jiggsawpuzzle35

Well-Known Member
Keep the cast members that work in the stores and foods. Time to open up both parks. Everyone who enters the gates gets a toilet roll with Newsoms face on it.
 
J

jerryp49

Active Member
From another blog site :

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News Galaxy’s Edge CMs at Disneyland Being Laid Off Due to Non-Transferable Seniority​

Today, 04:01 AM

Just saw this over at

I understand that Disney is hurting right now, but laying good, experienced CMs off just because they transferred to Galaxy's Edge...no, just no...
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Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cast Members in Disneyland are being laid off in the latest round of Disney’s 28,000 layoffs. Disneyland Resort reached agreements with several Cast Member unions regarding furloughs and the layoffs.

According to Teamsters Local 495, Cast Members who transferred to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge from Disney California Adventure lost all scheduling seniority because Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have separate union contracts. A Cast Member who had worked for the company for years in Disney California Adventure was effectively considered a new hire upon transferring to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Cast Members who transferred from within Disneyland Park did not lose seniority.

Transferring Cast Members were told upon starting at the new land that seniority would not make a difference in getting the hours they needed. However, seniority is now determining layoffs, so many long-time Cast Members are being affected. Many Cast Members and Disney fans shared their frustration on Twitter.
 
R

RollerCoaster

Well-Known Member
jerryp49 said:
From another blog site :

I understand that Disney is hurting right now, but laying good, experienced CMs off just because they transferred to Galaxy's Edge...no, just no...
mad.png
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Maybe the Cast Members should reconsider whether having a union represent them is truly in their best interest. This is a great example of how unions screw over their members and really don't protect their interests.
 

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