Layoffs underway at Walt Disney World

[lazyboy97o]

Getting rid of bloat is not a problem but that requires people who can properly identify bloat. This is hardly the first time the “winds of change” have blown only for much to remain the same.

 

[ford91exploder]

Guess this quarter's numbers were worse than expected, So TDO back to the old book o'tricks layoffs always make The 'Street happy in the short term...

 

[jakeman]

Guess this quarter's numbers were worse than expected, So TDO back to the old book o'tricks layoffs always make The 'Street happy in the short term...

Or you know...what literally everyone else in the thread is saying about an internal reorganization, even from some folks who may have internal knowledge of the situation.

But you do you.

#stockbuyback
#thanksespn

 

[Pixieish]

Guess this quarter's numbers were worse than expected, So TDO back to the old book o'tricks layoffs always make The 'Street happy in the short term...

Come on now...we all know big conglomerates have bloat that can easily be trimmed without the change affecting product/guest experience. I'd love to see the list of job titles in the Disney company have "vice president of" attached to them and then take a good hard look at what all those people actually do.

Also, we've all heard stories of how horrible some of the management are at Disney World in particular and how much they are lacking in their choices to support front-line employees and the lack of caring about anything. Sometimes an internal shake-up and fat-trimming is just what the doctor ordered.

@wdwmagic's comment does make me wonder though...

 

[juniorthomas]

Awful and completely heartless to do it just before Christmas too. However there has been talk of this for a while now so I’m not completely shocked, just think it’s very poor timing on Disney’s part.

Unfortunately, there is never a good time for layoffs.

 

[TrojanUSC]

The bloating is at magic Kingdom. I never see any management at the other 3 parks.

MK has the same management structure as the other parks, so no difference there. However they have more outdoor events (parades, fireworks, etc) that require crowd management so likely you see more non-costumed leaders there.

Lots of this stems from the late-90s when a decision was made to remove hourly "leads," front-line cast members who served as sort of a "shift manager," to help address guest concerns, managed basic labor issues and other front-line minutiae, and replace them with salaried Guest Service Managers. Each "area" now had an area manager and a host of salaried GSMs. While this probably looked good on paper (less overtime), it fostered a culture of "us vs. them," especially when combined with the Cast Deployment computer system that arrived a short time later. Also it created a substantial bloat of salaried leaders who should be hourly cast members. At some point in the late '00s, Disney made a slight course correction by implementing "coordinators," who were essentially leads without as much of a pay bump. However, Disney the Guest Service Manager position still stayed, though with many of their critical job functions removed. The small percentage of GSMs who were removed from day-to-day operations management were placed into project manager or other wholly unnecessary roles.

 

[monothingie]

There could be some significant developments alongside this.

Robots and higher ticket prices.

 

[Rumrunner]

The Disney corporation has made a number of questionable purchases, questionable decisions at ESPN, and Iger it seems has been more concerned about his politics and using Disney as a platform for those politics.
There is always a price to pay for poor management decisions and directions.

 

[TP2000]

Multiple financial quarters, if not years, we see Disney vaguely mention stagnation or slight declines in attendance and profits at WDW. While the same quarterly reports briefly mention strong attendance and solid financial growth at Disneyland Resort.

And from all insider indications Disneyland does that with a much leaner and slimmer management structure. WDW is bloated and not just top heavy but also middle heavy. Let’s hope they thin the WDW management ranks fully but also smartly.

 

[ford91exploder]

Come on now...we all know big conglomerates have bloat that can easily be trimmed without the change affecting product/guest experience. I'd love to see the list of job titles in the Disney company have "vice president of" attached to them and then take a good hard look at what all those people actually do.

Also, we've all heard stories of how horrible some of the management are at Disney World in particular and how much they are lacking in their choices to support front-line employees and the lack of caring about anything. Sometimes an internal shake-up and fat-trimming is just what the doctor ordered.

@wdwmagic's comment does make me wonder though...

To your point its never Vice President of Paper Clip Standards, or The assistant director to the assistant director of Media Relations who get the axe, Its the hard working front line workers and staff level management. You know people who actually DO the work.

 

[Pixieish]

To your point its never Vice President of Paper Clip Standards, or The assistant director to the assistant director of Media Relations who get the axe, Its the hard working front line workers and staff level management. You know people who actually DO the work.

Oh, I'm aware that's often the case...I'm just hoping "fat-trimming" is really what's going on here.

 

[ford91exploder]

Oh, I'm aware that's often the case...I'm just hoping "fat-trimming" is really what's going on here.

I'd be willing to bet its one of those get rid of your most expensive hourly staff They will be replaced with CP'er's deals

It's speculation of course but this is just more financial engineering.

To TDO CM's are interchangeable cogs in a machine so cheap ones are preferable to expensive ones. Lost is the fact that long term CM's are the ones who help maintain the magic.

 

[Pixieish]

I'd be willing to bet its one of those get rid of your most expensive hourly staff They will be replaced with CP'er's deals

It's speculation of course but this is just more financial engineering.

To TDO CM's are interchangeable cogs in a machine so cheap ones are preferable to expensive ones. Lost is the fact that long term CM's are the ones who help maintain the magic.

Which is the "middle-management" way of thinking. In the long term, that decreases morale and costs the company far more than keeping employees happy does.

 

[ford91exploder]

Which is the "middle-management" way of thinking. In the long term, that decreases morale and costs the company far more than keeping employees happy does.

Its all good if the 'numbers' look good for a couple of quarters while the managers responsible find a new host to destroy.

 

[Tick Tock]

Sadly some of those have been 25+ year leaders in operations.

The new way of life....where the more loyal you are to a company, the more seniority you earn the bigger the target grows on your back.

 

[Pixieish]

The new way of life....where the more loyal you are to a company, the more seniority you earn the bigger the target grows on your back.

Which is pretty horrible when you consider that these same higher ups will complain that there's no company loyalty anymore.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

To your point its never Vice President of Paper Clip Standards, or The assistant director to the assistant director of Media Relations who get the axe, Its the hard working front line workers and staff level management. You know people who actually DO the work.

Have you read a single word in this thread? Honestly.

 

[LAKid53]

Awful and completely heartless to do it just before Christmas too. However there has been talk of this for a while now so I’m not completely shocked, just think it’s very poor timing on Disney’s part.

End of quarter. Got to get those profit numbers up for quarterly earnings report. And the fastest way is to reduce salaries.

 

[IanDLBZF]

End of quarter. Got to get those profit numbers up for quarterly earnings report. And the fastest way is to reduce salaries.

And worse yet, the Unions are still in negotiations with Disney. I see a strike happening if no action is taken.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And worse yet, the Unions are still in negotiations with Disney. I see a strike happening if no action is taken.

Being focused more on levels of management, it seems doubtful the union would care.